February 2001

Baptizing Becca

On December 6, 2000 I stood in the baptistery at Westside to baptize yet another person into Christ Jesus. I am an old hand at this. Yet I found myself shivering, if only for a moment. This wasn't my first baptism yet it was entirely different from anything that I have ever experienced before. I was baptizing my own daughter in Christ Jesus. On that cold Wednesday evening Rebecca Roberts was born into the Body of Christ. more...

Complacency

"Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be satisfied, then watch yourself, lest you forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Deut. 6:10-12). more...

Premillenialism - A Lost Cause

Premillenialists are certain that the Lord will return to set up a physical kingdom in Israel and rule from David's literal throne for one thousand years. Other interesting and bizarre doctrines surround this core idea but that really is premillenialism reduced to its core: we are living before ("pre") the millennia (thousand year reign of Christ). more...

How are Your Sacrifices?

"'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Thy name?' You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled Thee?' In that you say, 'The table of the Lord is to be despised.' But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive he receive you kindly?' says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 1:6-8). more...

Lessons from the Old Testament

For many, the Old Testament is the "boring" part of the Bible. Their reasoning is that it contains little in the way of instruction for the Christian, certainly not like the more practical epistles in the New Testament. But in one of those epistles, the apostle Paul says, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4). more...

The Preacher's Pen

I have been disappointed in the reaction of some to the recent Harry Potter craze. Having read and enjoyed all four books it came as somewhat of a surprise to me that some were attacking the books as "satanic" or "promoting witchcraft." A nasty Internet rumor even fueled such attacks, despite being untrue. I judge the Potter books to be harmless. Yes, there is magic in them but it is innocuous and in no sense calls upon false deities or Satan for its power. If you remember the TV show "Bewitched" you will remember that Samantha did have magical powers but one would be hard pressed to say that the show promoted evil. The Potter books are much the same. more...