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One of my absolute favorite passages in all of scripture is the argument between Jesus and the Pharisees in John 8.  Now, this argument began much earlier and lasts longer than just this one chapter…but this section is particularly interesting because of the nature of what’s going on here.  In this sermon I cover what I believe to be the essence of the argument (this time)…and what it means for us.  The Gospels confront our faith, and in this one, Jesus does the confrontation.  Check it out… Of note:  In this sermon I call out one of our congregation who is a most humble gentleman. Read More →

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I was asked to preach this week at the North Hills Community Baptist Church as our Pastor was away for the weekend.  The topic selected was atonement and repentance.  Why is it that Christians, in our modern society, are still talking about sacrifice?  Why are we still talking about blood? Take a listen… Sermon content credit goes to Dr. Ergun Caner from whom I borrowed a great inspiration for this sermon.  Dr. Caner is the former President of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Brewton-Parker College in Georgia.Read More →

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…but not both In America (and around the world really) we are being inundated with supposedly wise ideas and anecdotes that are sometimes true, but often times are not.  Case in point… “You have to learn to forgive yourself.” Now, on the surface this looks like a brilliant and poignant saying.  Of course it makes sense, right?  We are supposed to forgive others, or so says the Bible.  According to the same book we are to be given forgiveness by God if we ask…so it would only make sense that we should be able to forgive ourselves right? Wrong. All of the “forgive yourself” sayings:Read More →

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Sermon delivered on May 25th at the North Hills Community Baptist Church. Audio Link (NHCBC.com) Isaiah 53:1-10 New International Version (NIV) 53 Who has believed our message     and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,     and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,     nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,     a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces     he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our painRead More →

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Within the context of the Old Testament covenants and New Testament understandings, there comes a conflict when Gentiles and Christian Jews attempt to discern whether the Levitical and Deuteronical laws apply in the new faith and new covenant through Jesus Christ.  It is this conflict that J. Daniel Hays attempts to resolve in his essay “Applying the Old Testament Law Today.”  Hays points out (correctly) that the inter-weaving of ceremonial, civil, and moral laws prohibit an outright categorization based on locale of the scripture.  Hays puts forth a suggested new approach, which he calls “principlism” to help Christians ascertain which elements of the Law pertainRead More →

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Applying the Old Testament Law Today J. Daniel Hays Bibliotheca Sacra 158: 629 (2001): 21-35.  How should Christians apply the Old Testament Law? Obviously commands in the Mosaic Law are important, for they make up a substantial portion of God’s written revelation. Yet the Old Testament contains many laws that seem strange to modern readers (e.g., “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk,” Exod. 34:26; “Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material,” Lev. 19:19; “Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear,” Deut. 22:12).1 Christians violate a number of Old Testament laws with some regularity (e.g.,Read More →