Primitive or Not, Jesus is Worth Singing About!

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Rev 5.9). Last week was a study in contrasts for me.  The church we attend has very lively music.  They have a full “swaying” choir with an R & B swagger.  They […]

Obscurity Fit for a King

“For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him.  But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him” (Heb 2.8). All the world sat agape as the future King of England entered the world last week.  Given the ubiquitous news coverage, I am surprised there wasn’t an Obstetricam to stream every second of the delivery live on the internet!  Who wouldn’t want […]

Ordinary Grace is Miraculous

We all love a good miracle, don’t we?  Honestly, I can’t say I’ve ever witnessed a miracle in the biblical sense.  I’ve seen God provide in remarkably timely ways.  I’ve seen God use the ordinary means of grace in powerful ways.  I’ve known God to act in ways that leave me saying, “There are no coincidences.”  In those cases, perhaps throw around the word “miracle” for lack of a better […]

We are All Trayvon and Zimmerman

“Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death.  They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward.  But later on two came forward. . . . But Jesus kept silent” (Mt 26.59-60, 63a). Trayvon and Zimmerman are now household names for most Americans.  For many, justice was served.  For many others, […]

Trinitarian Humility & the Pastor (Part 2)

In Part 1 I suggested an important of the glory of our Trinitarian God is the humility he displays withing the Godhead itself.  He puts that humility on display in the church, where members of the Trinitarian community interact with each other in joyful submission. I would like to press into this idea further by considering what this means specifically for pastors.  God’s Trinitarian imprint on the church means the pastor’s […]

Trinitarian Humility (Part 1)

Why a Trinitarian God?  Presumably, if there was a better way for God to be God then he would be that.  We trust therefore existing as a Three-in-God is the best form of being of the One True God.  A Trinitarian God is the best God for us than a unitarian god or polytheistic godhead. What then does a Trinitarian God uniquely offer that a unitarian god or polytheistic godhead […]

Survey of Old Testament Kings

For many of us reading through Kings-Chronicles is a slog.  The text volleys back and forth between Israel (Northern Kingdom or Samaria) and Judah (Southern Kingdom or Jerusalem).  What precipitated the soap opera that was old covenant Israel? King David’s murderous tryst with “the wife of Uriah the Hittite” had far-reaching consequences.  God took the life of their first (and illegitimate son).  As adulterers both David and Bathsheba were subject […]

The Gospel Assumes Local Church Membership

Church membership means different things to different people.  In the Bible Belt South, church membership is one’s civic duty.  The Constantinian mandate.  In North Africa, church membership might well be a death wish.  In America, church membership may cost you a little time or a little money.  In much of the rest of the world, it may cost you a wife, house or freedom. Whatever it means wherever it means […]

In Dependence Day (2013)

My mom (a.k.a. Mama Max) died on July 4th, 1990.  This picture was taken at my 16th birthday meal at Gridley’s BBQ in Memphis.  Mom wore her wig with all dignity and elegance.  She would die nine months later. I’ll never forget the day.  I had been watering greens at a local golf course throughout the night (Memphis summers and bentgrass greens don’t play well together).  Dad was already at […]