Deus Misereatur

{Nota Bene: Sometimes we read or hear this subject as if it were a prison house, a bondage, a set of shackles that confiscates our independence. Yet God, who has liberated us in and through Christ gives us a plan to live out, to enjoy and be refreshed by, this liberty. As you peruse the following, read it through the lens of liberation.} Beyond the plodding practical stuff of preparing for Sunday, there are ways in which wholeheartedly practicing the sacredness of the Lord’s Day starts to show itself as indisputably countercultural. Here is where you will start getting flack from family, friends, and society; this is when you’ll start getting asked if you belong to a cult or get treated like you’re a nut case. The simplest way to enjoy the sacredness of the Lord’s Day is to refrain from all commercial and organizational recreation/sports activities as possible . For starters, seek to avoid internet shopping on Sunday, along with fundraising work, all non-immediate home repairs, ho...

In 2 Chronicles 14, King Asa had just experienced a rousing, surprising victory. His army was outnumbered almost 2 to 1, but the LORD wrought a great victory, in response to Asa‘s prayer. His prayer of confident humility in verse 11 is instructive for God’s people in any age, especially as they confront far superior foes. After the victory, Asa and his army were returning to Jerusalem. The Spirit of God came on a priest, Azariah, who prophesied (to declare & announce God’s standard) a strong, firm promise. “The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you ; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” Very simple, firm, and covenantal. Asa and God’s people took the Word to heart. They gathered in the liturgical, public framework of the Temple and there renewed their part of God’s covenant (12-14): “Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and whoever would not seek...

The wholehearted practice of keeping the Lord’s Day sacred is an adventurous enterprise! But it requires practice and some plodding. Besides getting to bed early enough on Saturday that Sunday becomes a pleasure, there is another piece to the puzzle, especially if you find yourself rushed and flushed on Sunday. Prepare your clothes on Saturday. Getting them laid out in advanced, and having the ironing done, means Sunday morning you can rise without frantically rummaging through your closet, growling at everyone to get out of your way as you scramble to the ironing board. Instead, you will find that having been prepared the night before, makes the Lord’s Day morning set the tempo of the day at “Comfy”. Also, it aids you to a clearheaded charitableness with the rest of the family - which means, there’s one less sin to unload at the Sunday Morning Confession of Sin. Finally, it will make getting to Sunday School, and arriving on time a far more likely affair. The day will feel far mor...

As we think through the counter-cultural aspect of wholeheartedly practicing the sacredness of the Lord’s Day , we need to work on the " How ." Here’s a simple, basic, down-to-earth way you can embrace the sacredness of the Lord’s Day: Make sure that nothing in your control gets in the way of your getting to bed early enough Saturday night that you will be rested and ready for the Lord‘s Day. Maybe that sounds hokey, but here’s the reason I bring it up. Your body and brain will latch onto any old excuse it can to reject the sacredness of the day. So, by staying up late on Saturday, you’re feeding the spiritual sluggishness of your soul. Then, when you wake up and your eyes don’t want to open and your body groans in protest, at that point you’ll just slump back into bed with cheap promises of “Next Sunday, Lord.” Or you will slough through your shower, creep into your clothes, miss Sunday School altogether, shuffle listlessly into church, and then fight drowsiness (or give ...

https://wipfandstock.com/store/Gnostic_Trends_in_the_Local_Church_The_Bull_in_Christs_China_Shop Here's a picture of my new book. Click the publisher's link and you'll get right to the ordering page. It's selling for $19.00 per copy; but there are good discounts for purchasing through the web site, as well as for bulk rates. 20% off for 4 books & 40% for 5+. Also, if you interested in having me come & do a mini-conference for your church or group, let me know. Mike

You used to hear this expression constantly, though now the term has fallen on hard times: Counter-cultural . Usually when that term was (or “is”) used, it carried the idea of doing something wild and wooly, radical and rambunctious for Jesus. And that kind of talk sells - it sells books, bracelets, Bibles, seminars, signs and songs. But truly, when Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him, it is normally in the simplest, right-there-in-your-own-backyard kind of ways. As an example, if you want to watch your Christian faith stir up resistance, alarm, gossip and trouble, do this: wholeheartedly practice the sacredness of the Lord’s Day . You want to talk about counter-cultural! I could give you a small catalog of the trouble it has caused me and my family over the years; everything from being asked if I belonged to a cult, to being ridiculed by peers. To put it all simply, to be “Radical” and “Counter Cultural” in our Christian walk does not normally require...

The early 17th Century George Herbert, an English churchman, wrote a host of poems that take the reader on a meditative and theological journey through the Church and it’s worship. This series of poems is titled “The Temple” and can be found in the Penguin Classics book, “George Herbert: The Complete Poems.” Below is one of my favorite poems. This particular one is worth the Pastor’s time to read and contemplate. Likewise, I would recommend it for the pastor’s prayer time. And pastor, if you don’t spend time praying, start doing so today. The Windows Lord, how can man preach thy eternal word? He is a brittle crazy glass: Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford This glorious transcendent place, To be a window of thy grace. But when thou dost anneal in glass thy story, Making thy life to shine within The holy preacher’s; then the light and glory More rev’rend grows, and more doth win: Which else shows waterish, bleak, and thin. Doctrine and life, colours and light, in on...