Thou Shalt Not Lie

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Introduction

Have you ever been lied to or about? Or have you ever lied to someone or about someone? Of course you have. Lying is common to the human experience. It’s in our broken human nature to lie.

And scripture has a lot to say about lying.
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Re: Five Christian theologies scarier than Halloween

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Five Christian theologies scarier than Halloween

Rev. Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Professor of Theology and immediate past President of Chicago Theological Seminary has written an article for the “On Faith” section of The Washington Post for Halloween titled, “Five Christian theologies scarier than Halloween.” In this article, Dr. Thistlethwaite lists five supposed “Christian theologies” that scare her.

The five “theologies” she picks out are “1. Christian Dominionism”, “2. Hell and Damnation”, “3. Women Should ‘Submit’ ”, “4. God versus Evolution”, and “5. God Doesn’t Love You If You’re Gay.” She summarizes that what really scares her are “the Christian theologies that prey on our legitimate fears of human finitude, physical suffering, economic uncertainty, environmental destruction, and the threat of war in order to accelerate anger and alienation.” Ultimately, it appears that her premise is to paint evangelical Christians as evil people whom we should all be afraid of.
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Can your Gospel Save a Terrorist?

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12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:12-16 ESV)

Don’t be Conformed – Be Transformed!

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I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

3 Reasons Jesus Became a Man

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Christ

 

 

 

 

 

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3 Reasons Jesus Became a Man

Hebrews 2:5-18

July 28, 2013

 

Our scripture this morning is from Hebrews chapter 2, verses 5-18. Please turn with me there and we will read it in just a moment.

You know, my favorite place in the world is the beach. Now, I love any beach, but Sunset Beach in North Carolina has a special place in my heart. It’s one of those places where I just feel like I belong. I feel like I’m home. When I’m there, everything seems perfect and I never want to leave. Do you have a place where you are at home and never want to leave?

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Marriage Part I

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31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it (marriage) refers to Christ and the church. (Eph. 5:31-32)

Marriage is a reflection of Christ’s relationship with His Bride – the Church. Future generations will have a harder time understanding this truth, just as the fatherless have a hard time understanding the fatherly love of God.

We are gradually dismantling all of the institutions that God put in place to show us who He is.

Families, Fatherhood, the Sanctity of Human Life, and now Marriage are all under attack in order to destroy our Biblical understanding of who our Heavenly Father is.

God have mercy on us.

A Letter from God

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If you would, turn with me to Jeremiah, chapter 29. It’s located in the prophetic section of your Bible – right past the Psalms – in between Isaiah and Lamentations.

I grew up not far from here in Huntington Woods in Camp Croft. So, I’m very familiar with this area. You know, it’s changed a little bit since I was growing up here. I used to ride my bike up the steep hill on Old Georgia Road, now known as Carolina Country Club Road. Actually, I was a chubby little kid, so I had to walk my bike up the hill. And I would cross the two lanes of Highway 56 to go to the “Fast Fare” at the top of that hill with a dollar in my pocket and I would buy a coke and a comic book.

I did that every Saturday. And if the Fast Fare didn’t have the comic book I needed for my collection, I would ride my bike up to Eckerd Drugs Store right beside the Winn-Dixie which was across the street from my Elementary School, EP Todd.

When I got to be a teenager, I got my first job at the Winn Dixie. My high school sweetheart and now wife, Lisa, worked at Roses. Sometimes  we would take our breaks at the Hardee’s on the corner.

Of course, now, there’s a Bi-Lo where the school was, the Hardee’s has moved, Winn Dixie and Roses have closed, The Fast Fare is something else and I’m pretty sure they don’t sell comic books. And now, any parent who would allow their child to ride their bike all those places and cross the four lanes of traffic on Highway 56 would probably be thrown in jail for it.

Things have changed, haven’t they?

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SCBC Resolution on Adoption

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Thanks to the SC Baptist Convention for unanimously approving a Resolution on Adoption yesterday in Greenville, SC.

Here is the wording of the Resolution and what it means.

 

 

 

 

Adoption

WHEREAS, There are more than 17.5 million orphans worldwide (1); and

WHEREAS, There are more than 100,000 children and youth in need of permanent
adoptive families in the United States (2); and

WHEREAS, There are more than 1,400 children and youth in need of permanent
adoptive families in the State of South Carolina (3); and

WHEREAS, We are instructed to care for orphans (James 1:27, Isaiah 1:17); and

WHEREAS, We have been adopted as children of God (Psalm 68:5-6, Romans 8:15-23, 9:26,
Galatians 4:4-7, Ephesians 1:3-6) and our adoption of orphans is symbolic of this
in the eyes of the world and real in the eyes of the children we adopt; and

WHEREAS, There are children being adopted into homes where they will not be
exposed to the Gospel, be it

RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the South Carolina Baptist Convention
annual session meeting in Greenville, November 13-14, 2012, encourage all
government entities to streamline the adoption process and provide aid to families
in a timely manner; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we will foster an environment of transcultural adoption in our
churches by encouraging moral, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial
support for those who undertake this Gospel work.

 

So, What does that all mean?

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Christianity in a New World

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Click here to listen to Worship Music by Noah Lytle

Click here to listen to Christianity in a New World Sermon Podcast

 

 

 

 

Those of you my age or older would probably agree… This is not the same world that we grew up in.

I think it’s pretty evident from the election season that the face of America has changed.

About 50% of the country voted for traditional American values and about 50% voted for various progressive values.

The Presidency was won by a coalition of people that supported many different agendas from abortion, to gay marriage, to a more passive role in foreign affairs, to various social programs such as government healthcare, welfare and social security.

The world where we all came from similar backgrounds and had similar beliefs has changed. There are many more “worldviews” than there ever have been in America today.

If you don’t know what I mean by “worldview,” a worldview is really just that, how one views the world around us. It’s the lens through which one views everything from religion to world politics to personal behavior.

And everyone has one, whether they realize it or not.

Now the world view that the majority of us in this room would hold is a “Christian worldview” which is this: Continue reading