We welcomed recent days of steady rain in these west Houston suburbs. Now I welcome this break in the rain for a neighborhood hike. Scattered rain-clouds, flung in a wide sweep across the sky, hide the evening sun on this Texas Gulf Coast. Developers planted our Katy prairie land with trees two and three decades ago, and they now form a trekker's pleasant canopy overhead. Around and below me, the gentle wind rustles through the grass and flowers and trees. Overhead it moves the clouds across the half-darkened sky. I think of Jesus' comparison of God's Spirit to the wind. Both are invisible … [Read more...]
LENGTHY SERMONS
A parishioner in one state wants to tactfully suggest that his minister shorten the sermon, while a preacher in another state inquires how to make his sermons more effective. Both invite my opinion on the subject. * * * I am instinctively sympathetic toward preachers, having personally delivered two sermons each Sunday for about 20 years and still enjoying the pleasure of preaching from time to time. The truth is that a few listeners are bored by a sermon of any length and they need our love and prayers. However, preachers also need to remember the truth discovered by an … [Read more...]
LAW AS A CALLING
A gracEmail subscriber writes that his son is interested in becoming an attorney. "Many people have a negative view of lawyers," notes the dad, "considering them to have but little concern for truth and justice if those things do not further their own agenda or personal gain." Can I offer any advice as a Christian attorney? * * * I know many lawyers who try to follow Jesus Christ and to do what is right. I know some others who do not. The same may be said concerning salespeople, business folk, industrialists, financiers and even career clergy. The practice of law offers unique opportunities … [Read more...]
FOLLOW ME (2)
There is a time to analyze, to study, to reflect. There is also a time to respond, to move, to act. Mark's Gospel is intended for the second occasion. It is 65-67 A.D. Nero is Emperor in Rome. He has just beheaded Paul and crucified Peter upside down. Now he is unleashing a wave of lethal persecution against Jesus' followers in the imperial capital. Some he ties to stakes, drenches in oil and burns as human torches. Others he dresses in animal skins and exposes to killer beasts. Others he crucifies. Jesus' followers remember the master's challenge: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him … [Read more...]
FOLLOW ME (1)
Most likely, the earliest Gospel was written by John Mark of Jerusalem, helper to both Peter and Paul. The time was probably A.D. 65-67 and the purpose was to inspire believers in Rome against whom Emperor Nero had unleashed a wave of horrific persecution after having executed the two apostles mentioned above (see Acts 12:12; 2 Tim. 4:11; 1 Pet. 5:13). Mark's is the only canonical Gospel with a title: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Mark 1:1). Early church tradition says that Mark wrote what Peter preached. Peter himself hints at plans for something like that (2 … [Read more...]
GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING
That's what you give loved ones when you give books by Edward Fudge. Choose from the following (see pictures and descriptions at www.EdwardFudge.com/written ). GracEmail: Daily Answers to Life's Big Questions (HillCrest Publications) The Great Rescue: The Story of God's Amazing Grace (New Leaf Books) The Sound of His Voice: Discovering the Secrets of God's Guidance (New Leaf) Two Views of Hell, co-authored with Robert Peterson (InterVarsity Press) The Fire That Consumes (Paternoster Press edition). To order using major credit card for shipment anywhere, call toll-free (in U.S.) … [Read more...]
MORE ON THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
A gracEmail subscriber asks about the sin which will never be forgiven, mentioned in Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:28-30. What is the "unpardonable sin?" Can someone commit it today? * * * This is the only time the Bible specifically states that a sin will never be forgiven. The situation involved unbelieving religious leaders who accused Jesus of performing miracles by the power of the devil, when in truth Jesus was empowered by the Spirit of God. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers to a similar condition, in the case of one who permanently rejects Christ after encountering him … [Read more...]
UNPARDONABLE SIN
A gracEmail subscriber asks: "What is the sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31-32 which Jesus says will never be forgiven?" * * * This warning statement follows Jesus' exorcism/healing of a man who had been both blind and mute (Matt. 12:32). Since the Pharisees reject Jesus' authority as a teacher, they cannot afford to acknowledge the divine source that empowers his works. Yet they cannot deny the superhuman work Jesus has just performed. Caught in this dilemma, the Pharisees charge that Jesus is working as an agent of Satan (v. 34). Jesus responds that it makes no sense for Satan to fight … [Read more...]
SANCTIFICATION AND LAW
A gracEmail subscriber asks: "What role does the Law of God given through Moses play in our sanctification? Should the believer continually revisit the Law in order to remain convicted of sin? Or is that out of place for one who has been liberated from the penalty of the Law?" * * * Galatians 5 tells us that Christ has freed us from law as a governing (and always condemning) principle. Instead we are to live by the Spirit and "walk" by the Spirit. The chapter ends by describing what a person who lives by the Spirit will not do ("works of the flesh") and the traits that such a life will … [Read more...]
SIN’S DOUBLE CURE – 2
Do you remember the story of the adulterous woman whom Jesus forgave and gave a second chance? Although the story is not in the oldest and best Greek manuscripts, we still love it, for it sounds like something that we imagine the Savior doing and saying. It also illustrates Jesus' two-part remedy for sin referred to by the beloved hymn "Rock of Ages" in the lines: "Be of sin the double cure; cleanse me from its guilt and power." Whether or not Jesus personally spoke the words, "Go and sin no more," they express his message, and the message of the New Testament Scriptures as a whole. … [Read more...]