Saturday is the church trip to the ark replica, and I can't wait to see it. Ken Ham, builder and founder of Answers in Genesis, has made it his life's work to advocate for a literal reading of Genesis, so I know his dedication will be present in the information he presents at the ark. I don't expect him to have every single detail worked out, and I think there will be large amounts of pure speculation since the only record we have is the Genesis narrative, but I know it will probably be the best guess anyone has had, and that intrigues me. (If nothing else, I want to see what he does with dinosaurs and a big boat.) Sometimes I marvel at the fact only Noah and his family were saved. Eight peo

Everybody has that one song that really gets them pumped up, that gets the blood flowing and steels their resolve. It's the song people listen to in the gym while they're working out. It's what they play in the background of the movie when the hero is defeating the villain in the battle royal. It's what every pep band plays at every ball game to get the crowd, well, pepped up. It's the fight song. Asbury Theological Seminary, my alma mater, has no sports teams, no mascot, and no pep band, but there was one song we sang (sing?) at every major event and any other chance we get: "And Can It Be," the great hymn by Charles Wesley. We all claimed it as the Asbury fight song, and as far as fight so

No, the title of today's post isn't a typo. This Sunday will be our last Sunday in testimony month, and we've had some very brave people share their stories with us. All of them have my deep gratitude for telling us what God has done in their lives, for we're all better for having heard about God's love for them. They've shared individual stories, but no person is an island. Their stories are a voice in the symphony, a verse of the song that is Russell Springs Christian Church -- and the Church Universal. Each of us who is called by the name of Christ can add a verse to that song. We can all add stories of God's grace, mercy, and love. We can sing a song of repentance and redemption. And tha

Since March 23 of last year, our adult Bible study class has been poring over the pages of the Book of Revelation. That's right: for one day short of a calendar year, we've covered a whopping twenty-two chapters verse by verse. We've studied history, prophecy, symbolism, millennialism, the odd language question or two, and everything in-between. Today I counted and learned we've spent a total of forty-three weeks on it (counting tonight). That's the rough equivalent of a fourteen-week college course, time-wise. So congratulations, group: you've just earned your three-hour credit in Revelation! It's been a long journey, but it's been an incredibly rewarding one. We've had some great discussio

I didn't wear glasses until I was a day away from turning twenty-eight. I had occasionally been given reading glasses that never really helped, but just before graduating from seminary, I got "real" glasses full-time. Why? Because you really can read so much your eyes can no longer naturally focus on things farther away than a book. My theological education had left me woefully nearsighted. Ironically, being nearsighted where the faith is concerned is something rather strongly condemned in 2 Peter 1:5-9: For this very reason, make every good effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance

Every Saint Patrick's Day, I try to say something about the Godhead, the Holy Trinity. This isn't because I just know so much about it -- I don't -- but because St. Patrick, according to legend, taught the Irish about the Trinity using a shamrock. Which, as others have noted, is a fairly bad analogy. The problem is that there simply are no good analogies for the Trinity. Practically all of them cause you to profess some heresy or another (partialism, modalism, Arianism, Sabellianism, and a host of other bad -isms). So we're left with explaining things by not really explaining things, instead leaving them wrapped in mystery. Our best attempt at an explanation comes from Athanasius, an Early C

I've really been hung up lately on Paul's preaching in Athens. I'm not sure why, but I've really dug in here for a while, and I keep finding new things. On the whole, the passage teaches us a very valuable insight: whether or not we know it in so many words, we all worship something. Each of us chases a god or God (even the ones who say they don't worship anything at all). Some, if not most, don't know this particular god by name, and so their personal shrine may read "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD." Anything can fit on that pedestal and claim the inscription: wealth, fame, power, knowledge, self, family, church, job, team, gadget, political party, you name it. And every day it gets worshiped at its alt

Yesterday during the Children's Worship Time, I asked the kids about the key events in Jesus' life. They knew he was born on Christmas, and they could tell me he rose on Easter, but when I asked, "When did Jesus die?" the unanimous answer was, "Black Friday!" I suppose they should get half-credit for knowing it was on a Friday, at least. And I really have to admit that calling it "Black Friday" makes more sense at first blush than "Good Friday." We call it "Good Friday" because, well, it's the best Friday in human history. On it our Savior died in our place, bore the penalty for our sins upon himself, and gave us the opportunity to be saved and gain eternal life. And that's good. That's good

For being one of the most beloved people in the Bible, King Solomon is depicted as a rather controversial figure. Back when Israel had no king, God told them exactly how a king would sin, giving them a list of things a king must never do (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). In an almost parallel passage, Solomon is shown to have used the list of don'ts as a checklist for do's (1 Kings 10:14-11:8). And yet God still promised to give him whatever he asked -- and Solomon asked for wisdom (1 Kings 3:4-15). You have to admire the man. If God appeared to you and said, "Ask for what I shall give you," with the clear implication you'd get whatever you asked for, would you ask for wisdom? Not many of us would --

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the tale of the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The story doesn't appear in the majority of the manuscripts, but it so fits with the character of Jesus it's never been seriously recommended for removal. We can all quote from the story: "Go and sin no more"; "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." It's a beautiful teaching on sin, judgment, and forgiveness. But it's also the source of one of the greater mysteries to go unsolved in Scripture. Twice, in verses 6 & 8, Jesus stoops down and writes in the dirt with his finger. No one knows what he wrote. Theories abound, of course: scripture, the sins of the woman's accusers, the names of th

Of all the people in the Bible, Zechariah, husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptist, is one of the ones who makes me scratch my head the most. We know how his story goes in Luke 1:5-26,57-80: while he's fulfilling his priestly duties in the temple, Gabriel appears, terrifies him, tells him he'll have a son, and then strikes him mute for his unbelief. Zechariah recovers his voice by insisting they name his son John, as Gabriel said, after he's born at least nine months later. What strikes me as odd about Zechariah isn't the events of the story, nor is it the seeming harshness of his punishment. It isn't even how he fathered a child in his old age or how he was mute for so long. It'

No kid is born a vegetarian; I am firmly convinced of this. At some point in life, even if you like them all now, you could readily list which vegetables you hated most: broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, green peppers, anything with chlorophyll. And so it was an entire generation felt justified when Pres. George H. W. Bush told the world that, as President of the United States of America, no one could make him eat broccoli. Solomon must have had similar tastes. In Proverbs 15:17, he writes, "Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred." (Clearly the wisest man ever to live enjoyed steak over greens -- and, as a Jew who couldn't eat blood, he ate his st

Today is the first day of March, and March is Testimony Month at RSCC. Throughout this month, our morning worship will feature the testimony of a church member and the opportunity for others to share as well. The idea came from our Outreach Team, and I think it's a great one. One thing that's easy to lose is our story. We don't always keep in mind what God has done for us or where He's brought us from. It's very easy to take our lives and our blessings for granted, to believe we ourselves are solely responsible for our successes and our strengths. But sharing our testimonies puts an end to that. They are forceful reminders of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9: "My grace is sufficient for