Thanks to his partnership with Augustus Caesar, Herod became enormously wealthy. If Josephus is to believed, Herod’s wealth was truly staggering, and he put it to good use. In the broader world, he sponsored numerous buildings and improvements, and in one year even sponsored (and hosted) the Olympic Games at one of his new cities.… Read More »
I am in my tenth year as a solo pastor. In that time, I have led our congregation through a lot of changes. Our first Sunday together, I candidated for a down and out congregation that had just moved into a newly renovated space. They had already offered the pastorate to someone else, who had… Read More »
Modern Jerusalem is quite a sight. It is a city of three-quarters of a million people, covering 48 square miles of Judaean hills. Every year, nearly 10 million tourists and pilgrims come to the city, so the city sprawls over a much greater area than would be required by the population. The air is full of… Read More »
Recently, we bought a webcam and set it up in our worship space. It is nothing great, and the quality is not all that fantastic. Our streaming service is a free one, which means there are ads slapped at the beginning and end. (Apparently, they ran an ad for the Mormons this week – OY!) Why… Read More »
Yesterday, I was watching a video about the “New Hymns Movement” and I started thinking about all of the movements that I have seen in my lifetime. There was the Church Growth Movement, the Purpose Driven Movement, the House Church Movement, the Multi-Site Movement, the Emerging Church Movement, the Praise and Worship Movement, the Gospel-Centered… Read More »
Last week, I reposted a list of eleven things you need to know about your pastor. I wanted to follow that list up with some things that pastors need to remember about the people of their congregations. As a pastor, whose vocation is the ministry of the gospel, it is easy to forget that not… Read More »
Lyn Swenson is one of our dear friends and a veteran of decades of ministry in Japan. He is a member of our congregation and a voice always worth hearing. This Sunday, after the worship gathering Lyn handed me a newsletter from First Baptist Church, Portland, Maine. The newsletter included something that Pastor Keith Moore… Read More »
Friday, March 22 Ephesians 6:10-24 Paul’s last words to the church encourage us that the battle we are engaged in it is not just physical. The prince of the power of the air that he mentioned in chapter 2 arrays a lot of enemies against the work of the church. Paul lists a lot of… Read More »
Thursday, March 21 Ephesians 5:1-6:9 This is a long passage, and it has a lot in it; but notice that Paul brings up the word walk again. It is our walk in love, not your walk in love. It is a shared walk – a shared journey. And how does Paul describe this journey? He… Read More »
Wednesday, March 20 Ephesians 4:17-32 This is the third time that Paul refers to the walk. This time, it is the walk of the Gentiles, and we are warned against it. Who are the Gentiles? They are the nations and the people who are separated from God. Being a Gentile has nothing to do with… Read More »
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 15
- Next Page »
