Jesus Wants to Save Christians, pt 2

Part 2: The Cry of the Oppressed “What are we waiting for? And what are we going to do about it in the meantime? Those two questions shape this book. First, it is about the ultimate future hope held out in the Christian gospel: the hope, that is, for salvation, resurrection, eternal life, and the…

Jesus Wants to Save Christians, pt 1

“My concern is provoked by the observation that so many who understand themselves to be followers of Jesus, without hesitation, and apparently without thinking, embrace the ways and means of the culture as they go about their daily living ‘in Jesus’ name.’ But the ways that dominate our culture have been developed either in ignorance…

90 Days with Scripture: Revelation 21, The Future

Friends, here is the final installment of my series 90 Days with Scripture. In this sermon, I examine, however surfacely, Revelation 21. The conclusion of all things is that humanity has messed things up terribly and that God has solved those problems in a way we did not, and still do not, expect. His solution…

90 Days with Scripture: Romans 1-5, Grace

Friends, This is part 13 of the series. In this sermon, I look at grace by studying Romans 1-5. The print version is available in the links below from Box.net. You can download here, Grace, Romans 1-5 Or use the inline player below: Subscribe in a reader Part 1: Genesis 3, Where it All Went…

Emmanuel: God with Us

Over at CRN.info, another blog where I write, the other writers and I wrote a Christmas post where each of us explored, in a paragraph or two, the sentence “God with us,” or in Jesus, “Emmanuel.” Below is my contribution to the post. I encourage you to stop by CRN.info and read the entire post.…

Grace: A Narrative Collision

Friends, this post was originally published at CRN.info. I eventually turned a good portion of this into a sermon from Romans 1-5 which is published under the 90 Days with Scripture series. Thanks for stopping by. jerry _________________ I’ve been thinking about grace all week. I think I started thinking about it, intently, because the…

Being Dad: Tiny Socks

Friends, Here is #3 in my series “Being Dad”. This one reflects on the love that God has for his children. My conclusion is that God’s love for his children cannot be anything less than my love for my children. jery Little Boys’ Socks God loves His children even more than they can possibly imagine.…

Feminine Metaphors, The Bible, God, and The Shack

This post attempts to dismiss the angst many have over so-called ‘feminine’ theology. Much of the angst comes from those who are simply afraid that God might not fit into their pre-conceived ideas. Of special concern is the angst many have over The Shack’s presentation of God as a fat, African-American woman. (I suspect much of it comes, too, because people haven’t actually read The Shack.)

Being Dad: Treasures in Pockets

Friends, here is installment 2 of my “Being Dad” series of posts. This one deals with the things that we find in pockets. My sons, when they were younger, had an uncanny knack for cramming things into their pockets. That’s where this devotional is from. jerry ___________________ God likes to show off his people to…

90 Days with Scripture: Acts 2, The Church

Friends, This sermon is part 12 in the 14 part series tracing the grand story of God’s redemptive work through Christ. In this sermon, I look at the phenomenon called the church. In a very broad survey of Acts 2 I sketch three ideas about the church: the Church as God’s gift to us, the…

90 Days with Scripture: Jesus pt 4, John 20

Friends, This is part 11 in the 14 part series that traces the meta-narrative of what God is doing from Genesis through Revelation. In this part, Jesus part 4, I am dealing with the Resurrection narrative in John’s Gospel. I began with SM Lockridge’s ‘it’s Friday but Sunday’s coming…’ sermon and ended with a video…

An Assault on Orthodoxy

Friends, This is a re-post of a short essay I published at CRN.info. What concerns me in this post is the idea that every single differing point of view concerning Scripture seems to be, to some in the church, as an assault on orthodoxy. I believe it is fair to say that this is simply…

Being Dad: Bouncing on Beds

Friends, Several years ago I wrote a book-length series of devotions that, at the time, I sent around to everyone in my email address book. All of the devotionals were based on my experiences as a dad to three boys (the oldest of which, at the time, was 10; he is now 15.) I never…

That’s My King!

Friends, I have been preaching a sermon series I called 90 Days with Scripture.  I have traced the ‘big picture’ from Genesis through Luke and this week I will be in the book of John talking about the resurrection of Jesus. So I was studying and petitioning and preparing when I suddenly remembered that I…

Tim Keller on Atheism and Evil

Found this at a blog I read. The blogger is giving a brief review of Tim Keller’s book The Reason for God: Keller responds to the ubiquitous atheist chorus: “If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is much unjustifiable, pointless evil in the world, the traditional…