May I trouble you to answer this question: What is the sin unto death mentioned in 1 John 5:16?
Answer:
I think it is important to see that John is not discussing some particular sin. In fact, in the original, the definite article is omitted. “There is sin unto death.” That is, sometimes, as in the case of the people of Israel in the wilderness and of Moses and Aaron themselves at the rock, one sins unto death and God takes him away from this scene, but we do not need to inquire as to that when we pray …
Perhaps you, like me, were surprised at the final play of last Sunday’s Super bowl game. Pastor Bob Gunter convinced me to root for the Seahawks, and in the final seconds it appeared as if they would win. But they managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of almost certain victory. (Even I know that when you are two feet from the goal line, you run the ball! ☺
A few days later someone sent me an email that put things in perspective: Those who lose a big game need not be defined by the loss. A score is …
This past week, Rebecca and I flew down to Dallas to attend the funeral of her sister-in-law who had suffered with various ailments for 20 years. She leaves behind her husband, three children, and several grandchildren. Every time I attend a funeral I’m reminded that this is where our Christian faith comes most clearly into focus: we are convinced that all who die are fully conscious in the afterlife, and those who are believers are with the Lord and their bodies await the resurrection. We shall someday join them, and “forever we shall be with the Lord.” Any religion that …
I want to address my remarks to the church of Jesus Christ, to those of us who are followers of Christ. We stand here today united in our opposition to abortion, but I want for us to focus for a moment on the brokenness that abortion produces in the life of a young mother, and then ask ourselves if we are willing to apply the grace of God to this brokenness. We must not merely protest against the darkness but be a shaft of light to those who are hurting, those who do not know where to turn.
The terror attacks in Paris make us realize that freedom of speech cannot be taken for granted. What happened in Paris can happen in any of our cities, including Chicago. Of course most Muslims are personally against violence and intolerance, but they are irrelevant in our ongoing war with Islamist extremists. The fact is that the radicals set the agenda, and unfortunately, moderate Muslims are often fearful to show personal opposition to the larger, more radical agenda of Islam because they fear being accused of “siding with the enemy” or “falling into apostasy.”
Virtually all Muslim terror groups—ISIS, Boko Haram, …
Christmas is a wonderful time of year for most people, but certainly not for all. This is a very difficult time for those who are lonely, depressed, or who feel as if they are “on the outside looking in.” I’m thinking of those who are bereft of family; those who dread a family get-together when relatives are in the same room; those who have lost loved ones whom they especially miss at Christmas … The list of those who find Christmas a painful time of year is longer than most of us realize.
This hymn was written by Charles Wesley, the brother of the famous evangelist John Wesley. The Wesleys were mightily used of God in the revivals in England in the seventeen hundreds. But they were banned from the Anglican Church. For one thing, they disagreed with some of the doctrines of the church; for another, their methods were different from those of other preachers.
Charles is also the author of other hymns such as “Love Divine, All Love Excelling,” and another of my favorites, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain An Interest In My Savior’s Blood?” and “Jesus Lover …
If you’ve never experienced the power of thanksgiving, you need an attitude adjustment. When we read Paul’s directive to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Th 5:18), we might think that doing so is either impossible or irrelevant. We might even think we don’t have much for which to give thanks. Yet, this is exactly what Paul taught—we are to give thanks in all circumstances: the bad, the good, the promotions, and the demotions.
Thanksgiving is a game-changer. It honors God by affirming His sovereignty. When we give thanks, we affirm that He is in charge of everything and that …
This Friday, November 14, the National Cathedral will host a Muslim prayer service. A Muslim spokesperson for the event said, “We want the world to see the Christian community is partnering with us and is supporting our religious freedom in the same way we are calling for religious freedom for all minorities in Muslim countries.” The director of the Cathedral’s liturgy affirmed that “this needs to be a world in which all are free to believe and practice and in which we avoid bigotry, Islamaphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Christianity and to embrace our humanity and to embrace faith.”
This Tuesday is Election Day, an opportunity for us to cast a ballot in favor of a number of candidates. Incredibly, the statistics indicate that many people—yes, even Christians—do not vote; perhaps because they think that their ballot does not make any difference. In point of fact, not only have elections been determined by only a few ballots, but more importantly, if all Christians voted they could determine the outcome of almost any election. And if we don’t vote, we don’t deserve the freedoms we all think are our “right.”
Ask God to give you wisdom as to which candidate …
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