John MacArthur was my father's favorite preacher. My dad, a retired Baptist preacher, used to order his sermon tapes, and I remember listening to MacArthur in the car with him. It was usually either MacArthur or the Eagles.
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All other factors being equal, why is it that we often choose to advocate for the rich and powerful against the weak and vulnerable? I often hear that we can't assume that David is a rapist, but why is it considered normal to assume that Bathsheba was an adulterous harlot? Brothers and sisters, all other factors aren't equal in this story.
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May Gary rest in peace and may we all hail, alongside Gary, Jesus as Savior and King.
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IGTBAM offers a choice between patriarchy and impotence. But that is a false dichotomy. What does our world, characterized by moral relativism and gender fluidity need? I would suggest less focus on men developing gravitas through what the authors imagine is masculine dominion.
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Not only does Jesus ask this young man to give up all of his money; He asks him to consider himself and all his position, standing, reputation, power, education, and breeding as dung.
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When we look to ourselves instead of Christ, when we lean on our works, when we believe that what we do is what sustains us, this is a denial of the one and only Gospel that saves. No matter what cultural war rages around us.
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What is “The Joy of the Lord?”
Rather than being a command to Israel, it is a motive for OUR joy. In Christ, God’s anger is taken away. He rejoices over us. He even sings over us. He delights in us.
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So when we say, “To be like Christ is to clothe the naked”, what do we mean? Of course, there are many other things mentioned – feeding the hungry, providing for your own relatives, comforting the lonely and downhearted, and so on, as well as other duties summarized in God’s law. But this is a blog, and I would just like to leave you with a couple of thoughts on just one word picture: What does it mean to clothe the naked?
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But according to scripture, even though it teaches that “all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God”, sin is not the essence of who men and women are. Essentially, they are image-bearers of God. Therefore, they are redeemable, for when sin is taken away, the image of God remains and is restored.
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Over the years, many things have been labeled as occultic or pagan by certain sects within Christianity. Holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, and Easter, as well as certain kinds of stretches and personality tests, have been condemned as "pagan." What is less evident in these condemnations is what the condemners actually believe paganism is. So let's discuss that.
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In a world, and sadly also a Church, obsessed with power, one of the most striking and beautiful things about the Gospel is how it turns worldly authority dynamics on its head.
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Yes, let's have a conversation about history and ethics. However, when we begin these historical and ethical conversations, our standard must always be the firm and the objective truth of God's Word. History is not our standard.
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The Kingdom of God is best served when we are most abiding in Christ and relying fully on his grace.
I would have rolled my eyes at the simplicity of this three years ago, but sometimes the most beautiful and powerful truths are also the most simple.
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In a clear display of this sort of “tough guy” persona employing subjective and self-serving ethics, slavery is fine because Columbus is an Italian hero, or, to apply things to today, slavery isn’t a big deal because we have to react to those “woke” people. Either way, we are dealing with reactionary and autonomous ethics. Further, not only will we minimize and shrug off slavery, we will do so with faux-masculine aggression and caustic smugness.
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The snarky "gotcha" tweets or the "spicy" memes alienates you and your opinions from the undecided and the moderates. If it is your goal to persuade and influence, we must do better. If your goal is to get virtual back slaps from your internet buddies, you already have your reward.
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Do we gloat when our hearts should be breaking? Do we mock when we should be loving? Have we built nations to the detriment of building the Kingdom? Do we long after the power of carnal weapons when the true hope for the people of Afghanistan is Jesus?
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