Archive for the 'preaching' Category

So You Want a Vibrant Growing Church?

Published on May 22, 2008 in preaching. 0 Comments

badge-eph.jpgWell, in a fallen world these things will happen: yesterdays message (titled above) by our beloved Pastor Harris failed to record.  I am not presently able to make Wednesday-evening meetings due to my work schedule, so one of my minions does the recording for me. We are not sure at present what happened, but figure that the proper connections were not in place. This is highly probable as several other ministries use the same sound system in fellowship hall where we have Wednesday services. Maybe I can persuade Pastor Rod to make the message the topic of next week’s pastoral letter. In the mean time, here is the passage that Pastor preached on:

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:7-16, ESV

Pharaoh and Blogging

Published on February 11, 2007 in blogging and preaching. 0 Comments

“The Pharaoh behind the Pharaoh” is a phrase that has captivated my mind for the past week. I heard it used by Dr. Russell Moore in a chapel service at Southern seminary in which he spoke a week ago Thursday (February 1st), in which he was alluding the fact that Pharaoh, the mightiest man in that whole region at that time, nonetheless had a Pharaoh ruling over him. I don’t remember ever hearing Satan referred to in this fashion. When Dr. Moore first used this phrase in the message he quickly moved to the account of Satan entering Judas just prior to his betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Luke 22:3, Matthew 26:15). Later in the week I was thinking of Jesus’ declaration to the Pharisees that their father was the devil by virtue of the fact that they obeyed him rather than God (John 8:44).

We should remind ourselves often that we are not our own. Whether we be a pauper or a Pharaoh, we still have a Pharaoh over us. The question then that begs to be answered is “Who is your Pharaoh?” Is it the one who would require us to make bricks without straw, or is it the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who bids us come unto Him whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light (Matthew 11:29,30)? Based on who we listen to and follow, whose sheep are we (John 10:27)?

On a different note, another little feature in Dr. Moore’s message caught my attention as well. Just as Alfred Hitchcock made a habit of appearing in a cameo role in all of the movies he made, it appears that Dr. Moore recently has begun leaving a “signature” reference in his sermons and other academic addresses. I have heard similar references in the last couple of addresses I have heard him give. Here is an example from Dr. Moore’s February 2nd 1st chapel message:

“The problem here is that Egypt doesn’t know the difference between a blessing and a curse, but the real issue here is that neither does Israel. When Israel is brought into the wilderness, they start grumbling, they start griping, they start blogging about it.”

Let’s see if this continues, and if it does, in what ways it manifests itself. It should be fun. It’s nice to be noticed, if not individually, at least corporately. I’m sure a whole lot of cyber-complaining goes on, even among Christians, but if you would like to see what else bloggers do go here, here, and here.

Adrian Roger’s Homegoing

Published on November 16, 2005 in SBC and preaching. 0 Comments

Dr. Adrian Rogers, went to be with the Lord yesterday. I made a passing comment about him on this weblog last Thursday, totally unaware of his illness. The remark was in reference to the voice of a man who has been recording Spurgeon sermons and making them available on the internet as podcasts. Here is my remark from that post:

“The guy that produces it lives somewhere in Texas, and he does a great job, even if he doesn’t sound quite British enough. At least he doesn’t sound like Adrian Rogers.”

In using Dr. Rogers as my example, I did not mean anything disrespectful. His name just happened to be the first well-known southern preacher that came to mind. I know that a Tennessee drawl is not the same as a Texas drawl, but you get the idea. I read about Dr. Roger’s passing at numerous sites yesterday, but a tribute by Dr. Albert Mohler on his weblog was by far the best. One comment in particular jumped out at me. It seemed to have been placed there just for me concerning my British-accent pun. Among many kind words and high praises, Dr. Mohler said:

He was a modern-day “Prince of Preachers”