The stage is set. Over the past few weeks, we have reviewed both the necessity and the reality of the Sword of the Word of God having two edges. In order to ultimately be effective, the Sword must swing both ways—1.) as the LAW, cutting us open to expose our sin, and 2.) as the GOSPEL, cutting out that sin to free us of it! Do you remember my “Ship of the Kingdom” diagram? You may, as “a picture is worth a thousand words,”…
We are constantly aware of the fact that the sword of the Word of God has two edges, Kingdom and Gospel, and we want them both to be sharp as we wield that sword in these postings. We sharpened the Kingdom edge for several weeks as we looked at Donald Trump, his election, his initial successes, and how civil government functions biblically. Then in the last posting, we worked on sharpening the Gospel edge as we reminded ourselves again that our relationship with God,…
All who grew up in traditional, evangelical churches are undoubtedly familiar with the old hymn, Trust and Obey, one of the regular staples in the cupboard of old hymns. It teaches the standard “old time religion” of faith and obedience as the two things we must do to “be happy in Jesus:” “Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus – but to Trust and Obey.” When I was singing in the Glee Club Choir in Jr. High as…
Last week in our blog posting, we looked at what standard we will use in evaluating our civil government. We saw that, according to E.W. Wines’ book Roots of the American Republic, much of our Constitution springs from the Hebrew Republic in the Bible. However, as we look at Wines’ very first two items on his list of Hebrew Republic characteristics (religious unity of both God and the people) they would seem to be directly antithetical to a statement in our Constitution! Article 6,…
Here is the full text of my book on civil government and theocracy. I hope it compels you to serious thought! Let Earth Receive Her King
On Donald Trump’s week-one report card in last week’s blog posting, I gave him straight A’s. I think we were all shocked at both the volume and the quality of his actions in those first seven days in office. However, anti-Trump democrats would not agree with this evaluation. The wild-eyed, frantic, ranting from a majority of their spokespersons tells us that they feel he flunked miserably. But the issue is always “By what standard?” What are the behavioral rules by which we are measuring…
After just ONE WEEK of a second Trump presidency here is what our president had done, as enumerated by columnist Pamela Geller. It would appear that the old phrase used for politicians, who make promises they never keep, as being “All hat and no cattle” definitely does not describe Donald Trump! Are Trump’s first week results an indication that God still has plans for America to be again a Shining City on a Hill? Will we again be a beacon to the world, leading…
Last week, we investigated Martin Luther’s teaching on the Law-Gospel (Grace) distinction as presented by Dr. Hans Wiersma, a Lutheran theologian. Wiersma followed up their comments with what he called “guidelines” to understanding them. Here they are, word-for-word: “1. Keep in mind that the Word of God is (a) very sharp and (b) is stickin’ it to you. Yeah, that’s in the Bible: ‘The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints…
I began writing this blog in February 2017 and posted it on my newly published web-site. I had realized, after moving to Spokane for medical reasons, my ministry, for the first time, was not formally in and through a local church. So, I put together a web-site and started a blog to give me an identity, a “home base,” and an opportunity to still “preach” weekly. Both would be opportunities to communicate the exciting truths I was learning about my faith. In the past,…
We have spent the last several weeks working on discovering how God thinks about some basic issues, i.e., what He is like (absolutely sovereign), what we are like (absolutely sinful), and how God relates to me (absolutely by grace alone). Today we will explore the fourth and final foundation stone of what I believe God is teaching us—”What do I do now?” The answer lies buried in a seldom-referenced passage of Scripture in Genesis 1: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to…