Apr 20 2008
I am planning a series of posts on some biblical questions of discernment that anyone can use to identify false teaching. This seems to be a skill that is rapidly being lost and in great demand, but until then I want to direct people to a wonderful article by pastor and theologian Greg Boyd in which he reviews the popular book, The New Earth .
on the walk
-Ethan
Apr 17 2008
I was bopping around YouTube tonight looking for videos of people who can talk backwards which I think is cool. In one of the links was this video of Millard Fuller. He was the founder and long time leader of Habitat for Humanity so I was interested. It is an odd and rambling little piece. But in a surprising twist, Continue Reading »
Apr 17 2008
The Christian life is a life of great promise and great joy, and it is also a life of great sacrifice and struggle. At times we will find ourselves counting the cost of following Christ and wonder if it is really worth it. The Desert Monks of early Christianity called this despair, “the noon-day demon” but it can strike at any time and in almost any circumstance. Here is an excellent comment on understanding and battling this kind of despair from a neat series called Desert Spirituality for City Folks. You can find the whole series here.
Listening to the podcast will take only about 8 minutes and while it may not brighten your day, it will leave you better prepared for those days that are dark.
on the walk
-Ethan
Apr 15 2008
Ken Idelman had an article that was focused on preaching, but shared a truth that is relevant for all of us. We live the life that we have prepared for. We cannot (however much we may want to) choose in a moment to live in a way that is beyond how we have prepared to live. If tomorrow, there were some urgent reason I needed to run a marathon, I could not do it. The need of the moment would not matter, my lack of preparation would determine my choices in that moment.
This is true sometimes in our spiritual life. If we want to live a life of excellent faithfulness to God, we must prepare for such faithfulness.
It won’t take long, and it is worth reading. Check it out: Christian Standard - Preaching from a Well-Prepared Life.
It is good stuff.
on the walk
-Ethan
Apr 14 2008
I was talking with my friend Kevin Bobrow about the encounter with the woman and Nain and he reminded me of one of my favorite treatments of this text. Instead of focusing on the miracle as we did in the last post, instead we focus on the actions of Jesus that created the context for the miracle. Let’s take a look. Continue Reading »
Apr 13 2008
Today we encountered Jesus on his way, followed by disciples and crowds, when he meets a funeral procession. This is the third sermon in a series from Luke. It is called Grace Anatomy and it is looking the nuts and bolts of grace through the eyes of Luke.
The text today was taken from Luke seven, and describes the encounter that Jesus has with a widow from Nain. In that encounter Jesus raises her son from the dead. There is a lot to learn from this text. I hope to have a follow up post to talk about how we can learn to live in this way. But first, whenever we encounter Continue Reading »
Apr 09 2008
Our current sermon series at Mountain is on the character of Christ as great healer and is based on various accounts from Luke chapters 5-8. This last Sunday Ben talked about Jesus’ encounter with the paralytic. You can check out the text and the sermon online.
This is a perfect story to examine as we try to understand the signifying nature of miracles. Continue Reading »
Apr 08 2008
Scot McKnight shares a powerful real life version of the story of the Forgiving Father (also known as the Prodigal Son). It is worth reading. In fact if you have never visited the site, you may want to stay a while and browse around. Jesus Creed is one of the best blogs on the web.
on the walk
-Ethan
Apr 07 2008
I got to speak last night at Mountain’s student ministry, FUEL. It was great fun. I love to preach and I love to be with students. One of the special blessings of last night was that I got to lose a game of ping-pong. I love ping-pong and have not played in many years. It was great to play again. (Shout out to Wesley Barnes for being willing to play with the old guy and for letting me score 17 points. I am aware that the last five were just out of mercy.)
Apr 07 2008
Everytime I encounter a “new” heretical idea I always hope they are right (that it will be new). But alas that hope is always unfulfilled. Oprah Winfrey has been promoting heresy with increasing clarity over the last few years. Brian Jones has some straight talk on her latest project that includes a link to a helpful article. If you are an Oprah fan or know someone who is, you might want to check it out.
on the walk
-Ethan
