Tag: The Church

Morning Musing: 2 Timothy 4:1-5

3 Comments

“I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We had our regular business meeting this past Wednesday night at church. We Baptists love our business meetings. Fun fact for you: When the Southern Baptist Convention meets for their annual meeting each June, that is the largest business meeting in the world. My guess is that if you have heard of the Baptist church, you’ve probably heard about Baptist business meetings. My further guess is that what you heard wasn’t very flattering of them. They are boring at best, and at worst they are prime examples of every negative stereotype about the church that you can think of. Well, ours aren’t like that. Instead, we get together and celebrate everything God is doing in and through our little body. This past week’s business meeting was particularly encouraging. In fact, we gave so much attention to celebrating what God has been and is doing in our midst that we ran out of time for me to offer a little concluding devotion. Here’s what I was going to say.

Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Timothy 1:1-2

2 Comments

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope: To Timothy, my true son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Young people need old people. Sometimes they’re fully conscious of it. Sometimes they’re not, but the need is so pressing they are drawn to them anyway. More specifically, young men need older men and young women need older women. Young people need models and mentors they can look up to for wisdom and direction, for encouragement and even for correction at times. When they find someone like this with whom they connect, the bond that forms can be incredibly strong. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a mid-season review of the HBO-Max series, The Penguin, about the rise of the classic Batman villain. Since then, I’ve finished the series. I don’t often come back to a single season of a series more than once, but this one really stuck with me. Let’s talk about the church, being a mentor, and why The Penguin was both great and terrible.

Read the rest…

A Relational Pathway

Leave a comment

Last week, we started a brief conversation about doubt. Today, we’re going to finish it. Last week we established the fact that the source of our doubts matters. It matters whether they come from a place of faith or a place of skepticism. But knowing where our doubts come from isn’t the same as knowing what doubt is in the first place. In this second part of our journey, we are going to clarify that, and with the direction of the teachings of Jesus, talk about how to get from doubt to faith. Read on to find out how.

A Relational Pathway

Several years ago, I went through a season in which I did a fair amount of woodworking. Now, I’ve long enjoyed woodworking ever since I took a woodworking class in junior high. I don’t know that it’s the woodworking itself so much as doing projects that have very clear instructions and which I can follow carefully to reproduce the results of the model. I enjoy it for the same reason I enjoy making the metal models that are all over my office. The difference between building metal models and woodworking, though, is that anybody can build those models. Woodworking is a developed skill. Having the right tools, but not knowing how to use them well will result in a lot of really bad woodworking. 

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Romans 1:11-12

Leave a comment

“For I want very much to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Cultural Christianity was a real thing in this country for much of the 20th century and into the 21st. If you wanted to be someone, you had to be an active member of a church. Preferably a Mainline Denominational church, and the closer it was located to the center of town, the better. Gradually, though, the active member part was dropped in favor of merely an association with a church. Today, even that is mostly gone. The church really isn’t seen as a necessity anymore culturally, and that cultural trend is bleeding into the church itself. So, why does the church matter? Let’s talk about that as we continue Paul’s greeting to the Roman believers today.

Continue reading “Morning Musing: Romans 1:11-12” →

Morning Musing: Romans 1:8-10

1 Comment

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son — that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

On rare occasions I have the opportunity to preach somewhere other than my church. When this happens, I don’t approach the message the same way as I do with the people I know and preach to every week. Instead, I try to stay more generalized in my focus and encouraging in my tone. No one wants to get scolded by a stranger. Paul had never visited the church in Rome. As a result, he didn’t approach them with quite the same familiarity as he did the church in Corinth that he had planted and spent nearly two years pastoring. Today, tomorrow, and Monday, let’s take a look at how Paul greeted these people he had never met.

Read the rest…