Fear and Trembling

“(Thirty) years now, Where’d they go. (Thirty) years … I don’t know. I sit and I wonder sometimes, where they’ve gone.” -           With apologies to Bob Seger’s song “Like a Rock” I write this the night I attended my thirty-year class reunion.  It was good to see so many of my friends; to hear of their joys and pains; and to know they care about me after so long. Many spoke of the good things that have transpired after thirty years: marriages that have lasted, educations that have paid off, businesses bought and sold, the pride of military service, the honor in completing ‘a good day’s work’ for year after year, and the overwhelming joys of children and grand-children.  But, O, the bad things: the aches and pains of growing older, divorce, the rigors of military service for ourselves and our children;  friends, parents, and family separated by death; cancer and illness, car wrecks, and the overwhelming sorrow ...

Almighty and ever-living God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for your church and the United States of America.  Forgive us of our many and grievous sins that this prayer might be heard.  Thank you that we can be forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did in his perfect life in this world and in his sacrificial death on the cross. By your word you created all we see and know.  By your word, you made us in your image.  By your word, Christ is raised from the tomb, death is overcome, and we are given new life by the power of your Spirit.  Help us to boldly proclaim this good news, rejoicing always in your powerful presence.  Let us go forward without fear of poverty, derision, or even death in order to glorify your great name. Thank you for life, health, food, and opportunity.  Thank you for work to do and for strength to do that work.  Thank you for our homes, our families, our churches, and our friends. For ou...

I have made much of the argument for Christianity’s truth based on the moral argument .  The basic idea of the moral argument is that atheism has no basing for objective morality; there is no reason for an atheist to be moral given their way of thinking about the world. This form of argumentation is often miss-characterized by those in the vocal atheist movement.  They say we are accusing them of being amoral, evil people who do not live lives that meet a high standard of right and wrong.  Some web sites ever accuse us of saying atheists eat babies because they are so immoral.  This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the argument.  In fact, the argument only works if most atheists are outwardly morally outstanding people.  The idea is that a morally superior atheist has no objective basis for the moral life he or she is living.  They are borrowing a set of moral absolutes from another worldview, unusually Christianity itself.  A person o...

In keeping with a Christmas tradition of mine, I wanted to share one of my favorite hymns, sung at a recent church service I attended.  I will also take the time to explain some of the lyrics.   The song I have chosen this year is “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” a solid performance of which can be found here .  This song takes much of its imagery from Isaiah Chapter 6 and Revelation Chapter 5 and Chapter 19 .  The hymn was probably written in 275 A. D. The first verse says: Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand. These verses from John Chapter One come to mind:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. ...

It's that time of year again.  Time to participate in the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind: Operation Christmas Child . The annual Samaritan’s Purse project is a favorite of many families, churches and groups.  They spread joy to millions of children around the world by filling shoeboxes with a “Wow!” item—like a doll or soccer ball—other fun toys, school supplies, hygiene items and notes of encouragement. I had the great privilege of going to Lima, Peru, in 2008 to help hand out some of those shoeboxes to children in need through local churches.  To read my story, follow this link  and read several posts from my trip.  It was an unforgettable experience. Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham . Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to more than 124 million children in more than 150 countries a...

I hope that you have found this little series to be helpful.  I have outlined the reasons that I have chosen to be a Christian and to remain in the faith.  I have shared much of my own personal intellectual and emotional journey. The reasons given are not persuasive arguments for everyone. I pray that if you are a person who does not find them convincing that you will at least be motivated to explore other arguments and approaches. Some places to look on the internet are: www.str.org , www.ligonier.org , www.carm.org , and www.4truth.net .   Some helpful books include The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, Reasons to Believe by R. C. Sproul, Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham, and I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek.  These men differ on many theological issues, but their arguments for God’s existence and the truth of the Bible are sound.   ...

I was raised in a Baptist church in a small, West Tennessee town. Many times, I have heard the testimony of a person who has been radically and completely delivered from the awful, evil sins they once committed. I have often questioned the miraculous deliverances purported in these testimonies, especially when the speaker implies that my life must assuredly be changed in the same dramatic way if I truly repent of my sins and come to Christ. I do not intend to discuss a long, rambling account of my personal sins and the way I have tried to set them aside. I have found in my own experience that my besetting sins have persisted after I became a Christian, even though I am better than I once was. The difference in my life I want to discuss is not a dramatic reversal of my behavior. The Holy Spirit has helped me to get better over time, but I have not been made perfect, and I have not been radically and instantly delivered from sin. The change in my life that I want to focu...