The Plodding Preacher

We are not saved by faith. We are saved by Jesus. Faith is the hand that receives what Jesus offers. Greg Koukl

The San Antonio shooting prompts two sobering thoughts.  One, it could have been any of us.  Two, it *was* us.  In Christ, we are one. Ray Ortland

Hollywood expels one of its leading figures for the very misbehaviour it sells in its movies. Al Mohler

The Bible doesn’t expect us to live as if every second were our last. If we did, we’d likely skip work, stay in our pajamas all day, hunker down with friends and family, and eat as much ice cream as possible. Numbering our days is not an excuse for irresponsibility. It’s an invitation to think more seriously about eternity. It’s a call to work for the things that will keep working when we can’t. Like pouring into people. Or proclaiming the truth of Scripture. Or putting our time into the local church. Kevin DeYoung

The second great command is not, “You shall love the sinner as you love your sinful self.” As Augustine succinctly put it: “No sinner is to be loved as a sinner.” Rather, we are to love our neighbor “as a man for God’s sake.” This involves first realize that “God is to be loved for His own sake. And if God is to be loved more than any man, each man ought to love God more than himself.” When we fail to place these truths in their proper order there is no end to the sorts of evil that we will readily tolerate in ourselves and promote in others. Nick Batzig

You’re only a person if I say so Carmen LaBerge August 25, 2017 We all know ideas have consequences. So, what are the consequences of the idea that human beings define not only moral authority but the moral value of other human beings?  Fringe thinking? Think again. These are the ideas being taught at elite U.S. universities to form the thinking of the next generation of America’s leaders. Elizabeth Harman, a professor of philosophy at Princeton University explained the morality of abortion in an interview on   “Philosophy Times”   with actor James Franco. In part she said:   “Among early fetuses, there are two very different kinds of beings.” We have to stop right there and consider this claim. Her differentiation of beings is a statement of ontological reality. Ontology is term philosophers use when they’re talking about the nature of being, existence, and reality itself. In Professor Harman’s ontology, some people are people when they are in the ...

We do understand what is at stake in terms of the human judgment of history, but we are far more concerned about the divine verdict of eternity. We must speak the truth in love and seek to be good neighbors to all, but we cannot abandon the faith just because we are told that we are now on the wrong side of history. Albert Mohler

For this week's family article, we return to our friend Tim Challies who provides an excellent challenge to nurture our children. Nurture Your Children T here are few roles in which we feel deeper inadequacy than our role as fathers. What suits us to the task of raising little people? What assurance can we have that we are doing it well? What will our children someday say of us? These are big and perplexing questions, so it is little wonder that church bulletin boards are covered with posters for parenting seminars and library shelves are groaning under the weight of parenting books. One study found that in the past 10 years alone, publishers have released more than 75 thousand books on the subject. Parenting is tough, and none of us is fully up to the challenge. Considering the importance and difficulty of the task, we may find it surprising how little direct guidance the New Testament offers us. Its clearest instruction is found in Ephesians 6:4: “Fathers, do not provoke...

Too often we only hear of negative news when it comes to the church. This article explains how the church is mobilizing to serve in Houston. From the Flooded Grounds of Houston J. A. Medders Houston, along with its connected neighborhoods, communities, and suburbs, is being pummeled by historic rain and unprecedented flooding. It’s a disaster here. My neighbors—all 6.5 million—are feeling the effects of Hurricane Harvey’s 500-year flooding event. So far 370 billion gallons of rain have hit our greater Houston area—and it has just started. The pictures are nothing short of stunning. Nearly every bayou and creek in the Bayou City has gone over its banks. Meteorologists expect the storm to linger, dragging its rain across our city throughout the coming week. First-responders are working nonstop, risking their lives to rescue others. More than 2,000 rescues have been performed, and with days of rain to come, countless more are in store. While the Fede...

Thou needest to be saved from thyself, not by thyself. C.H. Spurgeon

The key to strong families is a strong marriage.   Ironically, after we wed, we often fail to do the things that strengthened our relationship as we courted.  Today's article is chock-full of inexpensive ideas to keep dating into our married life. 8 Ways to Date Your Spouse without Breaking the Budget Whitney Hopler Dating your spouse is vital to the health of your  marriage , since sharing experiences outside of your normal routines keeps your relationship fresh and strengthens your bond. But traditional dates are often so expensive that couples sometimes neglect dating rather than deal with the stress of paying for pricey dates, like dinner at a fancy restaurant followed by a movie. The good news is that by using your God-given creativity, you can create big romance on a small budget. Here are 8 types of dates you and your spouse can enjoy together for only about $10: Adventure dates.  Imagine that you and your spouse are tourists visiting your h...

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not breceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mar 10:13-16 ESV) This picture of Jesus is one that I particularly cherish.  While the disciples convey self-importance in rebuking parents who would think Jesus had time for their children, Jesus gently calls the children to himself.  The nature of the scene is even more precious when we consider a couple of factors.  First, the children involved are in all likelihood babes in arms.  They are young enough that the parents are bringing them and it was common practice in 1st century Judaism to ask prominent rabbis to bless infants.  Second, verse...

In our scenario for consideration, Subject A punches Subject B. If Subject A is a white supremacist who punches Subject B because of his skin colour, then we have a despicable act of evil and Subject A is correctly brought under the full penalty of the law. If Subject A is an Antifa demonstrator who punches Subject B who is a white supremacist racist, what then?  As one watches the media, one might conclude that scenario 2 is justified violence and hence Subject A should bear no penalty for the violence. What would God say? Clearly racism is sin because every human being is made in the image of God and ought to be treated with the dignity and respect that fact deserves.  In Christ, every tribe and people group will be represented in heaven.  Therefore, Christians ought to live that brotherhood here and now. What about white supremacists?  Are they made in the image of God?  Should they not be treated with respect and dignity befitting every image of Go...

Sometimes we do the things we hate. And sometimes we get confused and begin to hate ourselves for the things we’ve done. There is a world of difference between ‘walking in the light’ while confessing our sins ( 1 John 1.7-10 ) and letting our sins define our identity. While it is appropriate to mourn our sin ( Matthew 5.4 ), it is not appropriate to hate ourselves. In the heat of the moment of regret and shame, we can almost think that self-loathing is good and right and biblical (after all, we have offended a Holy God and become unclean!). But in truth, God never calls us to hate ourselves. The truth is that God loves us ( John 3.16 ,   1 John 4.10 ). And the only one who loves our self-loathing is Satan. Julian Freeman

NINE PROMISES OF GOD EVERY PARENT SHOULD CLING TO AND PRAY Mark Altrogge When my children were young I often told them I didn’t care if they were successful or rich when they grew up, but the only thing that really mattered to me was that they would live for Jesus. That’s the only thing that really matters, isn’t it? We long for our children to do well in life. And the key to doing well is knowing and loving Jesus. What would it matter if they became the next founder of a Facebook or YouTube if they weren’t saved? What good would it do if they became millionaires without Christ? But if our children know and love the Lord, he will establish and prosper them in ways that really matter. HERE are Mark's 9 Scriptures.

WORLD—In a statement that surprised nearly no one, Satan, the accuser and enemy of God and His people, paused briefly from roaming the earth seeking someone to devour Wednesday to confirm to reporters that he is responsible for the entire white supremacist movement worldwide. “Oh yeah, that’s all me. For sure,” said the wicked one Lucifer, adding that he’s “really been on a roll lately with this particular gig.” “I’m quite proud of this hell-filling racket. It’s as anti-biblical as anything can be, causing human beings made in the image of God to be seen as subhuman and expendable, but do you see how tons of them even invoke the name of God as justification for hating everyone who isn’t white? Purely satanic. Some of my best work, honestly.” The devil then ended his interview abruptly, explaining that he has “a lot of work to do today on this front.” http://babylonbee.com/news/satan-officially-claims-responsibility-white-supremacist-movement/

CBS News triumphantly declared on its Twitter account:  "Iceland is on pace to virtually eliminate Down syndrome through abortion. #CBSNOA learns more, tonight at 10pm ET/PT." Actress Patricia Heaton absolutely nailed it with her response Tweet: Iceland isn't actually eliminating Down Syndrome. They're just killing everybody that has it. Big difference. # Downsyndrome # abortion Abortion is not a cure for Down's Syndrome, it just murders those that might have it. 

It is not so much what is said that makes the heretic.   It is what is not said. A heretic is someone who does not wish to embrace all that one is given to embrace. They are “choosy”. Literally, a heresy means to “pick and choose”. Nathan Rinne

Tolerance is the favourite word of all things progressive.  We are supposed to support diversity in all forms whether we are talking of race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.  After all we live in a pluralistic society where multiple cultures, religions and morals co-exist. It is a lie.  The progressives do not want tolerance.  They want a totalitarianism of thought.  Anyone who does not agree with the party line must be silenced or browbeaten into submission.  This week Google fired an engineer who had the audacity to suggest that men and women are not the same - that there are biological differences between the genders.  As well, he accused the corporation of slanting its search results towards all things progressive.  For deviating from the google dogma, his livelihood was taken away. This should shock no one.  The ruling party in the Canadian Parliament has refused to allow anyone who does not agree with abortion on demand to be...

Joni has now spent fifty years in a wheelchair.  This fine article speaks to her hope. Why Joni Eareckson Tada Wants a Glorified Body by Jordan Standridge "It is so easy to be self-centered in this life, and this self-centeredness is easily brought into our relationship with Christ. There is so much we want from Him, there is so much temptation to complain and to expect things from our Savior. Joni reminds us to have the right perspective of Heaven. Of course, Heaven will be an eternity of pleasure. There will be no more tears or pain. But the greatest joy of all is the fact that we will no longer sin against our sweet Savior."

“You just need to believe in yourself!” How many times have we been told this statement as a pep talk? Culture tells us this is a great attribute to possess—the ability to take matters into your own hands, to be the determiner of your own destiny and the captain of your own ship. You can do anything that you set your mind to. Believe and achieve! And pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. There are whole sections of the bookstore devoted to helping you think like this, to have self-confidence above all else, and to rely on yourself and yourself alone. This kind of advice resonates with our human nature because at the end of the day we all love taking matters into our own hands. We’d rather trust in ourselves because it makes us feel “in control.” However, sadly, deep down in the true essence of who we are, in our soul and spirit, we know it’s a lie. No one has misled you more than you’ve misled yourself. No one has lied to you more than you’ve lied to yourself. No one has hurt, dist...

I wonder have you noticed a whole new vocabulary has been adopted and spread within our culture by the media and political elite. ‘Same-sex marriage’ is an oxymoron if ever there was one. ‘LGBT community’ presents a cohesive, friendly face. I won’t bore you with a full glossary of terms. Some others may be pertinent, but I’m sure you could cite more. Changing vocabulary is an age-old tool to brainwash. It was the favorite method  of the Babylonian ruling class to safely assimilate immigrants and erase the memory of their own culture, both political and religious. If you struggle to remember what Shadrach’s Hebrew name was, it helps to prove my point and shows the technique had success! Andrew Kerr

It’s easy to get the idea that “good” Christians experience nothing but victory after victory with nary a temptation or struggle until they cross the finish line in a blaze of glory. But I wonder if the race looks less like a sprint and more like a marathon where the runners are exhausted with just enough strength to drag themselves across the finish line or are carried over by their comrades. It’s in these moments of weakness that we realize how much we need the family of the faith to be arms of support when it’s hard to take the next step. Whether we are the givers or receivers of this help, we aren’t meant to go it alone, Persis Lorenti

Picture this: one in five less-educated young men are not working and not seeking marriage, and they seem happy about it. No one wants to see that, but we’re looking at it. According to  University of Chicago economist Erik Hurst , young men between the ages of 21 and 30 without a college degree worked far fewer hours in 2015 than in 2000, and in 2015, eighteen percent of these men reported not working  in the last year  (up from eight percent in 2000). Hurst describes this as almost one-fifth of the population  simply being idle : not in school and not working. Seventy percent of these young men live with their parents (up from fifty percent in 2000). These young men are not married, not having kids, and not earning an income. They are young, single, childless, and idle. What, then, are these young men doing with their lives? According to Hurst, they are playing video games. Leisure time, largely spent playing games on computers and consoles, doubled from ...