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A friend sent me a link to a powerful sermon, Ten Indictments by Paul Washer.  It’s an unusual sermon. It’s nearly two hours long. It was preached nearly 6 years ago. An indictment is a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime or a thing that serves to illustrate that a system or situation is bad and deserves to be condemned. Washer is indicting or charging the church, particularly the “evangelical” church with ten offenses. Ignorance of scripture. Ignorance of God. Ignorance of the nature of man. Ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration. Ignorant invitation. Ignorance of the nature of the church. Ignorance and a lack of loving and compassionate church discipline. Ignorance on holiness. Ignorant substitution of psychology and sociology for the scriptures. Ignorance of being undisciplined. He doesn’t always base his analysis on “ignorance” but that’s where it is. What he is really saying is that we have “forgotten” or “don’t know” what it takes to follow Jesus. He’s saying we are dying from lack of knowledge. We have substituted our way for His way. He preached his sermon 6 years ago and it received a good deal of attention. There just hasn’t been much change. He comes from […]

I am sixty-five. I keep up and enjoy a full-time law practice without secretary, paralegal or anyone else. I am not intimidated by younger attorneys and suspect the opposite may be true. I post on my blog nearly every day. I have just agreed to write two articles a month for a Christian magazine. I do my yard work and am a not-very-good DIY guy. I don’t expect to slow up on any of this any time soon. I love it when I come across material which contradicts some of the myths about age. This article is a great example: Why Everything You Think About Aging May Be Wrong.  Here are some of the myths followed by the truth: Myth No. 1: Depression Is More Prevalent in Old Age “Contrary to the popular view that youth is the best time of life, the peak of emotional life may not occur until well into the seventh decade.” Myth No. 2: Cognitive Decline Is Inevitable Not so. Keeping the mind active prevents decline and scientists also believe older adults can make wiser decisions.  That sounds almost biblical. I challenge anyone to a Sudoku race in ink, no pencils allowed. Myth No. 3: […]

Jesus said, “Follow me.” He called those who did, “disciples” which means followers. Consider the impact of focusing on being a “follower.” Quit following others. To follow Jesus, you have to stop following anyone or anything else. We sometimes refer to this as “repentance” or “turning away from sin.” The bottom line is you can only follow one at a time. It’s about change in direction. Eyes on Jesus. If you are going to follow Jesus, you better keep an eye on Him or you will soon find yourself  wandering off or following something else. Move.  Following implies movement. It’s not a one time decision. It’s not checking off a box on a to-do list. Following is constant, continuous, eternal movement. Not theology. Christians find themselves deeply divided. We divide on what we believe or how we worship or when we gather or even what we wear. Following isn’t custom, or tradition, or study or stimulating discussion. It’s walking. We may come from different starting points and, therefore,  may seem to be on different paths, but our eyes should be on the same Savior and our walk is in the same direction. Power walking. We don’t walk on our […]

Am I a Christian? I know seems an awfully heavy subject for a holiday weekend. I woke up with that question on my mind and I can’t shake it. I would like to just think about today’s football games or go outside and work in the glorious weather, but I know I need to deal with this first. Can we know?  Lots of folks teach that it’s a foolish question because we won’t know until we die. That’s just wrong. It has to be. We can know. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved said, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13. Those of you who insist we can’t know I am going to just feel sorry for you and wonder how you can live life like a cosmic guessing game. Regretfully, you are a big group. A recent “survey” showed that 50 percent of all born-again Christians aren’t sure. Maybe I’m not. Obviously one group who rightfully doesn’t know if they are a Christian or not, are those who are not. Surely you are not a Christian just […]

Hope your Thanksgiving was great. I bet it could have been better. I wouldn’t be surprised if you said you are glad the holiday is over. Holidays can be tough. If we think about it it’s not surprising. Holidays are about family. That sounds cozy and warm. However there are some things about family that make the gathering tough. We know family. Most of the time we have TMI, too much information about family. All the family “secrets” are smoldering just beneath the surface. Plenty of tension building there. We have to remember who knows what about whom. We don’t know family. While we, of course, know our family; they are not the same folks we grew up with. We now live separate lives. We tend to live in “time freeze.” We think that people are the same as the last time we visited with them even if that was a year ago or ten years ago. People change and change isn’t always comfortable. It’s not Facebook. People post all this warm and fuzzy stuff on Facebook. I’m not saying they are lying. They are filtering. They don’t mention Uncle Joe showed up drunk or Aunt Mary brought those […]

Thanksgiving is an action word. Thankfulness and gratitude are attitudes; but Thanksgiving requires doing something. The Pilgrims didn’t just feel gratitude to the helpful Indians. They had them over for lunch. God knows. I understand that Thanksgiving is about thanking God. Consider that God alone doesn’t need us to take action in thanksgiving. He, like no other, knows our thoughts and appreciates our thankfulness unspoken. We need Thanksgiving. So why all the Thanksgiving? Because we need it. We need to express our thankfulness, because we forget the many reasons we have to be thankful. Like a child at Christmas, we need to make a list and check it twice. Saying it out loud makes it real. There is something confirming about hearing ourselves speak truth. Others need to know. I believe there is even a greater reason for acts of Thanksgiving. We are surrounded by people that need to know that we are thankful for them. We stupidly persist in our belief that the ones we love and appreciate know all about our love and appreciation. We think they have the uncanny power to know what is never expressed or at least too rarely expressed. People need to know that we thank […]

This morning I got up and prepared a post about Thanksgiving Television. I used a TV guide article as my basis. Then I discovered I used a TV Guide story from 2011. Sorry about that. I try again using 2014. Television is as much a part of Thanksgiving as Turkey and giving thanks. You know the television will come on at some time. Why not watch the “best?” Here are my recommendations. Sometimes tongue in cheek. Times are central. Just for you. Today’s Thanksgiving-themed episodes/Specials/Movies: Friends “The One with the Thanksgiving Flashbacks” (11:30 p.m., TV Land) If you are up at this time, you could use some friends. Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (7 p.m., ABC) Charlie’s a classic Saturday Night Live “Thanksgiving” (8 p.m., NBC) THURSDAY Parades: Thanksgiving Day Parade (8 a.m.-11 a.m., CBS) Turn it on while cooking. That way you really don’t have to watch and it’s a tradition. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (8 a.m.-11a.m., NBC) See if you can make cheesier comments than the hosts.  Football: This year the classic match ups and the new ones are all good football. Try to identify any teams the Saints have beaten this year.  Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions (1:30 1.m., CBS) Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (3:30 p.m., […]

“Those engaged in pastoral work are often tempted to adopt efficient management, planning and organization models inspired by the world of business but also a lifestyle and mentality that are guided more by worldly criteria of success and even power than by the criteria Jesus presents to us in the Gospel,” Pope Francis A church is not a business. A business is successful if it has a positive bottom line. Church success is more related to what it gives away and not what it accumulates. Churches can’t be successfully run using business principles. The differences are obvious. Leadership. Businesses have a human CEO. Jesus is the CEO of the church. On earth, churches should have team leadership. The boss is at the right hand of the Father. He speaks through a leadership group not a dictator. Motivation. Businesses are profit driven. Churches are, or should be, Gospel driven. The Gospel is central to every sermon, program and meeting , and the advancement of it both locally and globally drive strategic initiatives. Employees. In business, positions are filled with experienced and trained people. In church, God uses people with spiritual gifts. He uses the unlikely, so He gets the glory. Involvement. In […]