17
May 2011
A study of Ruth clearly demonstrates how “God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform”. We might imagine that our main characters never sat around thinking, “God is preparing me to be an Ancestor in the Royal Line of Judah!” More likely they were caught up, as we tend to be, in what they perceived as a difficult, ordinary life. Only after they have played their parts well, can they look back and see how God was working alongside them all along. The story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz provides a......
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15
May 2011
In Season 8, Episode 1 of NCIS, Franks mentions the Unspoken Rule to Jethro, “You do what you have to do for family.” Fortunately, for Ruth and Naomi, this was not an “Unspoken Rule” but part of the Levitical Law. Leviticus 25:47-55, English Standard Version details this aspect of the law and Deuteronomy 25:5-6, ESV clarify the specifics of what a kinsman redeemer is responsible for in the case of a widow with no sons, also referred to as Levirate Marriage. There are four specific guidelines associated with assuming the role......
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04
Mar 2011
As a youth, we attended a church that had a large focus on college students. If you moved to town, and began attending our church in the summer, you would find a small community of a few hundred gathered regularly and living life together. However, the moment students began to arrive at Mississippi State University for the fall semester the church would begin to burst at the seams and the congregation became numbered much closer to the thousands, with the median age being around twenty. It turns out that back in the......
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05
Dec 2010
We have had an ongoing conversation on the topic of Real Men™ and most of that conversation has taken place offline. Around a fire, on the back porch, standing around the patio, over cigars, or even over a glass of scotch (Tommy had rum). Tommy took the conversation online with his post (Manly?) and there are certainly some good conversation happening in the comments there. Take a minute and go read it if you haven’t. For those that are new to the topic, the essential question is “How do you explain to......
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15
Apr 2010
Do you think it is possible to square Biblical events with science? I was speaking with a few European brainiacs (and atheists) over beers in NYC in January on the topic of Faith vs. Science. Andy proposed that the Scientific discipline is one which states Anything not Disproven is Possible while the Faith discipline is one which states I Believe, Even If I Know It is Not True placing the two paradigms in a nullifying juxtaposition so that they can not coexist. I asked the three of them whether they considered me......
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01
Feb 2010
Songs, fellowship, big dinners, sweet words, beautiful liturgies, the holiday season was upon us! What joy, what merriment, entire towns were dressed up to reflect the pervasive spirit of celebration. Hot chocolate, fresh baked cookies, warm fireplaces, warmer friendships, praise the Lord for our ability to celebrate Him so. In reflecting on our celebration, let us look at the gift of salvation and remember what made that celebration so sweet; and perhaps be encouraged to deliver the gift to others this year. It seems simple enough to say, “Christ died for our......
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10
Jan 2010
Overview Bubba tends to be of an extremely analytical and logical nature; as such, he is drawn to systems, frameworks, and workflows in understanding and visualizing concepts. While most everyone appreciates a diagram or picture to help them understand a concept, there aren’t as many (though you are likely one if you are reading this) who are truly attracted to a systematic approach of frameworks and workflows. A long way of saying that this might not be for you, but I find it helps me towards greater clarity in analysis and understanding.......
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02
Jan 2010
Our scripture today is meant to help us scrutinize our own lives and discern the degree to which we conform to Christ’s example and standard. Before we go into the text, I admonish you to resist the significant temptation to skip over applying this text to yourself and immediately begin judging others by the standard it sets. That act, in and of itself is counter to what we are teaching here. So then, what is it that we are teaching here? What is the point of our review of these twelve verses?......
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01
Jan 2010
Pressing Toward the Prize in Christ Jesus Contending or Contentious? Beloved, I was eager to preach to you today regarding our common salvation; however I find it necessary to appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Now, you might rightly ask, why? Why is it necessary to appeal to me to contend for the faith? Am I not a child of God? Haven’t I faith? What is to be contended for? What is this contention that you would encourage me to participate......
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23
Jan 2009
A friend of mine recently read a statement on Wikipedia regarding Calvinism, and I quote, “One person is saved while another is condemned, not because of a foreseen willingness, faith, or any other virtue in the first person, but because God sovereignly chose to have mercy on him.” He brought the statement to my attention and asserted that this was one major reason in his objection to Calvinism as a system, because – according to his interpretation of scripture – this is directly opposed to “clear bible teaching”....
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