Just weeks ago, the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian (and father of one of the children killed yesterday) preached on Jesus as Death’s Conqueror, even as He wept before the tomb of Lazarus.
Pray for this family and for this church. God, be near.
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Trevin Wax
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Donated a well working car to a pregnancy support center, which was given to a single mom who chose life.
A dear brother, Nabeel Qureshi, is with His Savior now. Grateful for a life well lived. Pray for his wife and kids, and parents.
If you think spiritual maturity = knowledge, you'll have people who can win Bible Trivia but who don't look much like Jesus.
Either she's going to live or she's going to LIVE. Praise Jesus.
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I watched Dr. Lois Evans funeral today. It was beautiful but the eulogy from her son, Jonathan, had me WRECKED! He preached that thang DOWN!
"My body, my choice" arguments don't work when we're selling someone else's heart, liver, lungs, and legs. #PlannedParenthood
When a kid has a rough day and bedtime comes and they’re sorry for acting up, I love saying “I love you on bad days, not just good days. You wake up to new mercies tomorrow. Don’t you forget it.” God knows I’ve needed to hear that myself after rough days of parenting.
Right, left, conservative, liberal religious, secular —doesn’t matter. God is unmasking our hypocrisy and evil all over the place. It hurts.
The best picture in this month's Christianity Today isn't of a millennial. It's this mass baptism in Iran.
"Conversational narcissism" -- this is the mistake that is so easy for us to make when we're trying to comfort a grieving friend. I've done it. I've had it done to me. This article explains why it's a bad move.
Have found this to be universally true: if they walk in bashing their last church, they'll eventually walk out bashing yours.-
My constant prayer in sermon prep: Help me, Spirit, to make what is unfamiliar understandable and what is familiar strangely fresh.
Fascinating to see how parts of Jesus’ sermon on the mount and the letter of James can be found in seed form in Mary’s song of praise. This woman prayed and sang songs like this to her boys. And the fruit is everywhere.
Watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” with the family and just realized that it’s 1919 when Mr. Gower the druggist lost his son to the flu. Never thought of the Great Influenza pandemic as being a part of this movie, and I’ve seen it so many times.
I so needed this laugh again today.
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Hell is full of people who think they deserve heaven.
Heaven is full of people who know they deserve hell.
Do you feel the world is broken?
We do.
Do you feel the shadows deepen?
We do.
But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through?
We do.
Do you wish that you could see it all made new?
We do.
If #SBC17 denounces the alt-right tomorrow, it should do so because the movement is evil and anti-Christ, not because of potential bad press
Unless we are overcome by the love of God, we will be overcome by the fear of man.
“It does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run.” –J. C. Ryle
Hell is full of people who think they deserve heaven.
Heaven is full of people who know they deserve hell.
It is bizarre to me that some are now championing Roseanne as ‘conservative.’ Growing up in a conservative Christian home, I wasn’t allowed to watch that show because it was a crass example of cultural decline. Everything’s upside down nowadays.
"People who cannot restrain their own baser instincts, who cannot treat one another with civility, are not capable of self-government... without virtue, a society can be ruled only by fear, a truth that tyrants understand all too well." - Chuck Colson
“If Christians win a battle by using worldly means, they have really lost.”
- Francis Schaeffer
In other words, he is saying we should establish a state religion that teaches what the government says it should.
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Democrat presidential candidate Robert Francis O'Rourke says that he will take away the tax-exempt status of churches if they do not believe in same-sex marriage
Sotomayor asked aloud whether the court would “survive the stench” that overruling Roe and Casey would create. With all due respect, Roe and Casey are the source of the stench. #SCOTUS
I hate Cancer. And I look forward to the day God kicks that savage thief into the abyss forever.
The older I get, the more I study Scripture, the more life experiences I have with Jesus, the more I find the most profound and necessary and desperate words I can pray are this: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."
Writing tip: don't let your inner author and your inner editor in the same room at the same time. They won't get along and you'll be paralyzed by their infighting.
Regarding reports about "gender affirmation" surgeries and treatments on minors at Vanderbilt, it is not "bullying," "terrorism" or "hatred" to recognize the permanent physical effects on children and to reject the perverse financial incentives of hospitals involved.
Here’s something to remember, for perspective— what happens on Sunday in churches across our nation, where the gospel is preached and King Jesus is exalted, is exponentially more eternally significant than what we’ve witnessed tonight.
God will not protect you from anything that will make you more like Jesus. - Elisabeth Elliot
The one who loves you the most is the one who tells you the most truth about yourself. - Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Ted Cruz told Americans to vote conscience and convictions and the Constitution. Those who boo embarrass themselves. #RNCinCLE
. has been a consistent source of wisdom and encouragement to me—someone who has prayed for me over the years, and I will be forever grateful for her kindness.
I just can't get my head around the fact that Rachel Held Evans has died. I knew it was serious and had been praying, but man... we're the same age, with young families, in good health. What an awful reminder of how fragile we are. Lord, be with her family.
The death of the queen feels weighty because it marks the passing not of a woman but of a world.
What kind of Great Commission people are we if we move heaven and earth to send out missionaries to spread the gospel abroad, but cannot muster the will to stop predators from “slaughtering the faith” of people at home? #SBC
I’m glad these reporters enjoy seeing faith in the public square. But when Republicans do this, we get cries of “theocracy” and “extremist.” Please, for the sake of unity in the future, be consistent. twitter.com/spulliam/statu
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Wherever you stand on comp/egal debates, surely biblical manhood should be marked by a visceral reaction and forceful opposition to any man who would belittle and mock a woman in this fashion. twitter.com/edstetzer/stat
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There is no “golden age” of Christianity in the past, only an unbroken line of broken sinners saved by the grace of God.
Other countries watching, please judge us by relief efforts and charitable giving and volunteer work. Not this. Please, not this. #debate
It feels a bit like a great light has slipped beyond the horizon. It’s a sunset that has long been coming, and yet it still feels strangely sudden.
Patient 31 didn’t stick to social distancing but went to church instead, which led to two clusters responsible for 80% of South Korea’s infections. ow.ly/uFIq50yMIqK
About to baptize our daughter Julia this morning. Praising God for saving her!
Hell is full of people who think they deserve heaven. Heaven is full of people who know they deserve hell.
This stat! "African Americans are the only racial group in the US that sees the Bible as more important for the moral fabric of the country than the Constitution."
Some thoughts I wrote down in 2007: If a “fundamentalist” is someone who believes in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith (virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, the bodily resurrection, inspiration of Scripture), then count me in. I’m not ashamed of that label.
Jesus came ‘to call sinners to repentance.’
The church is offended that He calls sinners.
The world is offended He calls for repentance.
Mighty Moses says, “But I can’t speak, Lord.”
Jeremiah says, “I’m too young, Lord.”
Gideon says, “Give me some sort of sign first!”
But Mary hears the news and says, “May it be so.”
Hell is full of people who think they deserve heaven. Heaven is full of people who know they deserve hell.
If you're a classic TV fan, you've got to admit this is pretty cool. The Brady Bunch cast is reuniting on HGTV to do a renovation of their iconic house. Let's hope they don't find that Tiki necklace anywhere. ow.ly/JI5x30muxK6
What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies. - Thomas Cranmer
Tim Keller’s last video recorded message for Redeemer.
“Forget yourself. Forget your reputation. Seekest thou great things for yourself? Seek them not.”
redeemer.com/message_from_t
Contrary to what many popular self-help books will tell you -- your heart is too small, your life is too short, your will is too frail for you to base all your hope for happiness in yourself.
Just in case anyone thought the threat of Christian nationalism came only from the right…
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President Biden quotes the book of Isaiah in his speech addressing those killed today in Afghanistan: “Who shall I send?” “The American military has been answering for a long time, ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me.’”
Our daughter in sixth grade has been reading on The Johnstown Flood for a book report, and when she looked at the library card, she saw I checked out the same book from the same library when I was nine years old!
No Christian who truly understands grace can feel superior to anyone else. Grace shatters any sense of superiority.
Pray with me for some of the pastors in the Parkland, FL area: Sal Cavarretta, Larry Brister, Adam Alley, Jeffery Smith -- that they will "to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort they receive from God."
Hell is full of people who think they deserve heaven. Heaven is full of people who know they deserve hell.
"Whatever "call" one may pretend to have, if he hasn't been called to holiness, he certainly hasn't been called to the ministry."
–Charles Spurgeon
I preached myself, the scholars came and praised me. I preached Christ, the sinners came and thanked me. - Bernard of Clairvaux
Bible knowledge does not equal Christian maturity. You can have a heart filled with knowledge and a heart empty of love.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The victorious Christian life is marked not by the absence of sin, but by the presence of repentance.
People say what happened in El Paso was "senseless." The truth is, there IS a sense behind these actions -- an evil, twisted racist sense fueled by the sins of pride and hatred. It is the wickedness of racism. Deliver us from evil, Lord.
It is a sick society that sees an unborn child as worthless when alive and valuable when dead.
Opened the mailbox today and found the edition devoted solely to Billy Graham. Choked up just flipping through it. Graham's life makes me want to dig deeper into the Word so when I speak, I'm always saying through the power of the Spirit -- "The Bible says."
Grace is Christianity's best gift to the world, a spiritual nova exerting a force stronger than vengeance, racism and hate. - Philip Yancey
“Have found this to be universally true: if they walk in bashing their last church, they'll eventually walk out bashing yours.”-
Interesting how quickly the national discourse from the left went back to 'women's rights' and away from 'menstruators' and 'birthing people.'
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Just think: instead of the staff saying, “good sermon today” when he got back to his office, it was Jesus who said, “Well done.”
The Christian is not defined by the absence of sin but by the presence of repentance.
Grieved to hear about and longing for the day Jesus will restore broken minds and bodies and make all things new. Pray for his family and his church.
Romanians to the rescue!
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Apparently, thousands of Romanians have been waiting in their personal vehicles to pick up #refugees at one of the NE borders with #Ukraine.
I'm not often elated at news from back home, but this makes my heart swell. #StandWithUkriane #standwithrefugees
In a therapeutic society, sinfulness is no longer falling short of the glory of God, but the falling short of your own potential.
Save our country, Lord, from caring more about right and left than right and wrong. -
This morning at 9:30, my grandfather Nevin, went to be with Jesus. 89 years old. Natural causes. His wife of 64 years, kids, and some of his grandkids, were surrounding him, singing, as he died. He loved Jesus, his church, and the Word. It was an honor to be there to see him off.
“It costs something to be a true Christian. Let that never be forgotten. To be a mere nominal Christian, and go to church, is cheap and easy work. But to hear Christ’s voice, follow Christ, believe in Christ, and confess Christ, requires much self-denial.” –J. C. Ryle
A self-published book got sent to me today. It's anti-Trinitarian.
It has this gem:
"The doctrine of the Trinity has been around since a few hundred years after Jesus' life on earth, but it seems the internet has brought the Trinity into more prominence in recent years."
I don't know how I could live the Christian life without the Lord's Prayer. 3 times a day. Reorienting compass. God's glory above all. A cry for the kingdom. Yearning for sustenance and forgiveness. Deliverance. It's the heart of everything. Thank You, Jesus, for giving it to us.
If asked why we will not alter the definition of marriage, our response must be “We can’t. We didn’t define it to begin with. We received it."
One of the insufferable aspects of heretics and heresies is how boring, predictable, and recycled they are. Orthodoxy is thrilling in its holding together of paradox and mystery. Heresies are narrow because they’re tailored to their times.
To feel “not at home” should be the sentiment of every Christian in a fallen world.
Have found this to be universally true: if they walk in bashing their last church, they'll eventually walk out bashing yours.-
My constant prayer in sermon prep: Help me, Spirit, to make what is unfamiliar understandable and what is familiar strangely fresh.
The Christian task remains unchanged: to seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God, pray for those in authority, witness to the sanctity of life, and spread the fragrance of Christ in all our words and actions. Where we fail, we repent. Where we succeed, to God be the glory.
The fuel of joy is gratitude. The fuel of gratitude is wonder. Wonder gets stifled by entitlement. Gratitude disappears when wonder dies.
Jesus came "to call sinners to repentance." The church is offended that He calls sinners. The world is offended He calls for repentance.
A pastor asked me today what’s happening in the country and the church today, and after some thought, the best explanation I could come up with is, “People have lost their ever-loving minds.” Carrie Underwood said more than she knew when she sang there’s “something in the water.”
Oh the power of these saints in Kenya who are cherishing the first translation of the Bible into their language! May we who have an abundance of riches in translation cherish more and more the treasure of God's Word. ow.ly/EApv30nahUk