Some Thoughts on Mark 1, The Church, and Power

Part 3: What the Church Needs. Now. We've been taking the last Sunday of each month the past couple of months to visit other churches in our area. This, in conjunction with our travels to preach in various churches, gives us the opportunity to see how the Lord is working in our part of the…

Book Review: Plain Faith

Title: Plain Faith Author(s): Irene & Ora Jay Eash with Tricia Goyer Publisher: Zondervan Year: 2014 Pages: 208 Cripple Creek Horse Ranch Tricia Goyer [Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of Plain Faith by Zondervan in exchange for my faith and unbiased review. I hope that helps clear up any confusion.] I'm going…

500 Words Per Day: Air Hockey, Holy Spirit & Church Boards

I've been thinking about God's Holy Spirit. And I have also been thinking about church. To be sure, I've been thinking about Christians. I've probably also been thinking about myself and how in some way or other I have had experiences with all three. I suppose the experiences haven't always been the best of times…

Book Review: Jesus Now

Title: Jesus Now Author: Frank Viola Publisher: David C Cook Year: 2014 Pages: 210 Other Resources:     The Deeper Journey     Love Not the World [Disclaimer: I was provided a free copy of this e-book via NetGalley. It is my duty to inform you that I was provided this resource for a short period of…

Book Review: Four Views on the Historical Adam

Title: Four Views on the Historical Adam Authors: Denis O. Lamoureux John H. Walton  |  BioLogos Forum C. John Collins    |  Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? William D. Barrick | The Masters Seminary Greg A. Boyd   | ReKnew Philip G. Ryken |  Sermon Audio Publisher: Zondervan Year: 2013 Pages: 289 (e-book) Additional Information: Counterpoints:…

Book Review: Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris

Author: Joshua Harris Title: Dug Down Deep Pages: 232; +study guide & endnotes (study guide written by Thomas Womack) Publisher: Multnomah Books Date: 2010, 2011  I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for my review by Waterbrook/Multnomah Publishing.  "A religious person is trying to put God in their debt through hard…

Skycast: Ezekiel 37: Waking the Dead

Welcome to the Life Under the Blue Sky Skycast (podcast). In this episode, you will hear a sermon from Ezekiel 37:1-4. I preached this sermon to my congregation on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2009. Be blessed. Access the sermon manuscript from box.net: Ezekiel 37:1-14, Waking the Dead Prophesy to the Bones. And the Lord put…

Lectionary Study Notes: Acts 4:5-12, May 3, 2009

Friends, Here is my second installment of study notes for this week’s lectionary readings. This one focuses on Acts 4:5-12. The study focuses on the Spirit’s role, the Name, and the Exclusivity.  Quotes from William Willimon, Richard Philips, John Stott, Robert Tannehill, LJ Olgivie, DA Carson, Eugene Peterson, Aijith Fernando, Mark Driscoll, and more. There…

Resurrection Changes Everything, Luke 24:36-49

Friends, Here is the link to the sermon I have written based on this week’s Gospel Lesson from Luke 24:36-49. I have attached a link to the notes too. Be blessed. Resurrection Changes Everything, Luke 24:26-49 Gospel Lesson notes: Luke 24:36-49 Here’s an excerpt: Resurrection changed everything. The resurrection of Jesus set the world on…

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…

Why Joe M Stayed in the Church

Friends, While lurking, and taking a brief hiatus from writing at CRN.info, I read this in the comments thread of another post: “This place is supposed to be the “Christian” blog…er…right?” Well, I can say: “Yes! It is.” We don’t always agree (sometimes we don’t really even like each other very much); we certainly do…

Unimpeded Joy or Not?

Friends, The other day, I posted some thoughts on the Joy of Jesus. In that post, I wrote: What I would like Christians to do is recover. We need to recover from our sense of seriousness. We need to recover from our sense of dignity. We need to recover from our sense of pride and self-importance…

90 Days with Jesus, Day 73: John 16:5-15: The Spirit of Jesus

John 16:5-15 (90 Days with Jesus, Day 73) “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going…