The Plodding Preacher

Relevant Magazine put an article by Shane Pruitt entitled "7 Unbiblical Statements Christians Believe" on their website.  Relevant by its very name claims to represent all things cool and hip in Christianity today.  Hence, I find it intriguing that the original article on Mr. Pruitt's blog page was entitled "9 Unbiblical Statements Christians Believe."  What are the two unbiblical statements that Relevant Magazine thought were irrelevant?  We all worship the same God We’re all going to the same place when we die I think that tells me something about what is "relevant" today, and that I like Mr. Pruitt's article better before the edit by Relevant Magazine. You can read Shane Pruitt's original list HERE .

The Babylon Bee is a new Christian site that seeks to use satire to show how ridiculous so many trends in Evangelicalism truly are.  This article hits way to close to many "Christian" movie reviews I have read. Ease Your Conscience By Finding The Gospel Theme™ In Any Filthy Movie Do you find yourself hesitating when it’s time to pick up tickets for the latest Hollywood blockbuster because, like many other Christians, you’re afraid to expose yourself and your family to the depraved debauchery of so many of today’s films? Do you also live with the fear of cultural irrelevance because of all the popular movies you have not seen? Well fear no more, say the creators of Gospel Theme™, a new service dedicated to helping Christian film enthusiast watch more filthy movies, watch them better, and watch them with a clear conscience. “We, like you, love to watch today’s most popular movies,” Victor Rossi, CEO of Gospel Theme™ told reporters Thursday. “And we, like you, get offen

Paul Levy, Phoebe's father, writes this amazing little piece that you must read. It seems even too trite to write a blog post such as this but at our dinner table the other night my 6 year old son asked the question. In January 2015 our third child Phoebe was born and, as a complete surprise to us, Phoebe has Down's Syndrome. The last year has been, and continues to be, an enormous roller coaster full of joy and sorrow too. One of the things my wife and I have struggled with is that we know that God has brought Phoebe into our lives. Her Down's Syndrome, although a surprise to us, was no surprise to her Heavenly Father; she is fearfully and wonderfully made. However, we also have to recognise that her Down's Syndrome is a result of the fall. So my 6 year old's question is a real one - in the new creation will Phoebe have Down's Syndrome? All will be made new, there will be no more suffering, no more pain. As I've tried to think this through theologically,

Never thought of it this way. Marriage was the last relic of paradise left among men, and Jesus hasted to honour it with His first miracle. C.H. Spurgeon

It is Easter week.  Good Friday is near.  Easter Sunday is just around the corner.  The great danger for those of us who have grown up in the church lies in the apathy than can so easily claim us.  We've been here before.  We've done this before.  We know the story.  We sing of "Amazing" grace, but some of the awe and wonder has gone out of it. This is why I appreciate an article I read today. Mark Loughridge tells of the book he has just finished reading - Mission at Nuremburg by Tim Townsend.  The book is the story of Henry Gerecke who was the chaplain at the Nuremburg war trials for the top Nazis after the Second World War.  Under his care were 6 of the chief architects of the holocaust.  The book tells of Gerecke's determination to share with these men the forgiveness to be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  These men were guilty of the murder of millions.  Most would say that these men, of all men who ever lived, deserved to feel the full wrath of Alm

Wycliffe, the company dedicated to helping countries translate the Bible into their own languages,   announced to their staff   that four of their translators were brutally murdered and others injured by militants in the Middle East earlier this month. In the announcement letter, prayer coordinator Mae Greenleaf explained the militants' raid on their translation office in the Middle East: Militants killed four national translators and injured several others in a raid on a translation office in the Middle East. They shot and destroyed all the equipment in the office including the Print On Demand (POD) equipment. The invaders burned all the books and other translation materials in the office. Two workers died of gunshot wounds. Two other workers laid on top of the lead translator—saved his life—and died deflecting bludgeoning blows from the radicals’ spent weapons. Though the militants seemed intent on destroying the translations, the computer hard drives containing the transl

At the end of 2015, Bridget John, a Pakistani Christian who is seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, provided this testimony to Parliament: My name is Bridget John; I’m a widow and asylum seeker. I am 36, my son is 10. I’m a Roman Catholic from Lahore, with degrees in Psychology and English literature. My son’s father was my late husband, John Abrahim. He worked as a Customer services manager in a government gas company; he was the only Christian in his office. Because he was a manager over Muslim colleagues, he was greatly resented, since Islamic practice in Pakistan is that Muslims should always be in the position of domination and authority, and most Muslims are very unhappy to work under a Christian. Several of his employees were supporters or members of a banned extremist group. They pressured him to convert to Islam, but my husband repeatedly refused, and for a while they ceased and we thought the danger was over. Then, one night, there was a works dinner out. I heard some n

James Faris shares a great personal story at Gentle Reformation . A number of years ago, a fellow student and I mumbled and griped to one another as we raked leaves on a chilly fall day on the front lawn of the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We participated in a work-in-lieu of tuition program that covered part of our educational costs. Each student in the program was assigned tasks and was required to work a set number of hours. However, the program was not well-organized that year as it has since become, and the work never filled the hours required. My brother and I had conscientiously tried to fulfill our obligations week-by-week and go above and beyond the assigned tasks, but we never came close to filling our “required” hours. We were also pretty sure that most other students in the program didn’t begin to bother trying to fill their required hours with extra work. One day, the seminary administration announced that the

This is a sobering article.  Although it is written from an American perspective, it is worth thinking about. What Would Happen if the Church Tithed? How giving 10 percent could change the world. The church of today is not great at at giving.   This isn’t exactly news. But it is a statistical fact:  -   Tithers   make up only 10-25 percent of a normal congregation.  -   Only 5 percent   of the U.S. tithes, with 80 percent of Americans only giving 2 percent of their income.  -   Christians are only giving at   2.5 percent   per capita, while during the Great Depression they gave at a 3.3 percent rate.  Numbers like that can invoke a lot of guilt, which isn’t really the point. The larger point is what would happen if believers were to increase their giving to a minimum of, let's say, 10 percent. There would be an additional $165 billion for churches to use and distribute. The global impact would be phenomenal. Here's just a few things the Church could do with th

“The theory of evolution will be one of the great jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity that it has.”  Malcolm Muggeridge  

Gender Ideology Harms Children The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts – not ideology – determine reality. 1.   Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: “XY” and “XX” are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder.   The norm for human design is to be conceived either male or female. Human sexuality is binary by design with the obvious purpose being the reproduction and flourishing of our species. This principle is self-evident. The exceedingly rare disorders of sexual differentiation (DSDs), including but not limited to testicular feminization and congenital adrenal hyperplasia, are all medically identifiable deviations from the sexual binary norm, and are rightly recognized as disorders of human design. Individuals with DSDs do not constitute a third sex. 2.   No one is born

I pastor an uncool church.  We don't have a fog machine.  Our worship leaders could not be described as the "worship band."  We are not interested in creating a feeling for people who come in our doors.  For this reason I appreciate this article by Michael Kelley. 3 Reasons to Stay in a Church That's Not Cool Enough by   Michael Kelley   I'm amazed at how deep my own consumerism runs. This is most clearly visible to me at how righteously offended I feel when someone or something doesn’t measure up to my expectations. So when, for example, the internet in my home is running slowly, I immediately look for the person who I have determined is the right recipient of my indignation. That’s right – I look for someone to be mat at… when the wireless signal in my upper middle class home isn’t fast enough for me to sit and watch the exact tv show I want to watch on this magic box called a computer which, incidentally, also has no wires. Sheesh. It gets really

"Do not believe everything you think. You cannot be trusted to tell yourself the truth. Stay in the Word." - Jerry Bridges

March 6, 2016, Jerry Bridges passed into the presence of Jesus.  Justin Taylor has written an excellent obituary that you can find HERE . Even better, why don't you pick up one of Jerry's books (he wrote 25) and read it in his memory.  Personally, I would recommend The Pursuit of Holiness.   It was Bridges' first book and I was introduced to it in the early 80's while in Bible College.  It is one of those rare books that simple yet profound. 

Adam Swift - read the whole article HERE "There are worship songs that are good, and then there are worship songs that are excellent. I once had an interesting conversation with an agnostic about a Christian worship song they enjoyed because it reminded them “God loves them so much.” Interestingly enough, the worship song did not specifically mention Jesus’ name or his Gospel work on the cross. After that conversation, I asked myself, “Could some of the songs we sing in our church allow non-Christians among us to praise God apart from the Gospel?” Our churches should worship with songs non-Christians could not sing comfortably due to the lyrics’ clear articulation of the Gospel. Our songs should confront us with the holiness and sovereignty of God, our terrible sinfulness, our great need for the cross of Christ, and the blessings of belonging to him through grace by faith. These are not things the non-Christian can sing about without a degree of discomfort in their soul

This morning on my drive to work I heard an advertisement for a new Christian movie.  Its title is "The Young Messiah." I have not read any reviews on this movie.  I have not seen the trailers for this movie.  All I know about the movie is what was said on a short radio spot on my Christian radio station this morning.  Some of you who read this will immediately condemn what I am about to say because you will argue that I can't judge a movie I know so little about.  Unfortunately that is not going to stop me from saying what needs to be said. RUN!  DO NOT PAY GOOD MONEY TO SEE THIS MOVIE! The radio spot tells me that this movie will fill in the gap between the birth of Jesus and the beginning of His ministry.  Let me make some observations: There is only one incident in the Bible about this time in Jesus life.  Unless this whole movie is about the trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, then it will be full of material that is not in the Gospels about Jesus.  In fa

This is an excellent little article suggesting 5 things every wife should pray for her husband. 5 Prayers to Pray For Your Husband   (click title for original article) by   Tish Hedger Strength in the midst of discouragement Lord, I pray that my husband would turn immediately to you when discouragement steals into his heart and mind. I pray his reflex would be to remember that his High Priest sympathizes with his every weakness. May your compassion usher him into your throne room that he might find mercy and help in his time of need. God, use every heartbreak, disappointment, and stress to pull him into greater intimacy with you. May discouragement give way to worship as he boasts in you only. Vision to see Christ, be my husband’s vision when life feels tedious and his days are long. Enable him to find joy and fulfillment in what you have called him to today. Help him not be distracted by regret for yesterday, or with longing for tomorrow. May his sense of identity be in t

“The foundation of worship in the heart is not emotional...it is theological.”   ―   Sinclair B. Ferguson