Archive for January, 2009
Next Entries »What Does It Mean to Pray in the Name of Jesus? Section 2
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Part 3 of series: Rick Warren, the Obama Inauguration, and Praying in Jesus’ Name
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In my last post I showed that Jesus himself taught his followers to pray in his name. But he did not mean that they should say “in Jesus’ name” at the end of their […]
What Does It Mean to Pray in the Name of Jesus?
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009Part 2 of series: Rick Warren, the Obama Inauguration, and Praying in Jesus’ Name
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Note: This is a revised and expanded version of a previous post.
Yesterday I raised the issue of whether or not Rick Warren should pray “in the name of Jesus” when he gives the invocation […]
More Ire to Come?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009Part 1 of series: Rick Warren, the Obama Inauguration, and Praying in Jesus’ Name
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A recent AP news story featured this headline: “Warren’s inauguration prayer could draw more ire.” The implied, earlier ire came when President-elect Barack Obama chose Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration. […]
More God, Less Time? Part 2
Monday, January 12th, 2009On Saturday I put up a link to a fascinating article in the Los Angeles Times: “A closer, faster walk with thee.” This article provided many examples of Christians encouraging other believers to grow in their relationship with God by spending short amounts of devotional time each day (for example, The One Minute Bible or […]
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
Sunday, January 11th, 2009Set Apart . . . by God, for God
READ Psalm 4:1-8
You can be sure of this:
The LORD set apart the godly for himself.
The LORD will answer when I call to him.
Psalm 4:3
Throughout the Scripture, God sets apart people for himself and his purposes. Often the Bible uses the language of holiness to depict this […]
More God, Less Time?
Saturday, January 10th, 2009A friend of mine (thanks, Don) pointed me to a fascinating article in the Los Angeles Times. It’s called, “A closer, faster walk with thee.” The writer, Duke Helfand, chronicles the growing tendency among American Christians to squeeze God into very short segments of time. It would be easy to complain about this, but I […]
Seeing With New Clarity
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009I recently got a new pair of glasses. I hadn’t had my prescription for my glasses updated in a few years, so it was about time. As it turned out, my distance vision had improved, while my up-close vision had deteriorated. So I definitely needed some new lenses. These lenses, in addition to being just […]
Why Stay in a Sick Church?
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009Over the past few years, I have at times weighed in on the question of why orthodox, Bible-believing Christians should stay in denominations that flirt with heresy or abandon biblical authority. In particular, I have spoken of my own involvement in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and why I remain in this denomination in spite of […]
Let It Flow Out: An Interview with N. T. Wright
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009Last November, N.T. Wright spoke at a Laity Lodge retreat. I had the privilege to conduct an extensive interview with him on a wide variety of issues. Excerpts from this interview are now available at The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website affiliated with Laity Lodge. I’ll put up the first part of […]
Complaining About College Football
Monday, January 5th, 2009Wherever I go these days, people are complaining about college football. This odd fact will make more sense if you know that I live in Texas and have recently vacationed in Southern California. Texas is, after all, the home of several prominent football teams, including the University of Texas Longhorns. Southern California is also the […]
Sunday Inspiration from The High Calling
Sunday, January 4th, 2009Serve the Lord
READ Psalm 2:1-12
Serve the LORD with reverent fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Psalm 2:11
Introducing a Change in Weekend Daily Reflections:
Starting yesterday, I began to try something new in my Daily Reflections. During the week, I’ll continue to work passage by passage through a book of the Bible. But on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll […]
A Few More Scenes from the Rose Parade
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009Yesterday I put up some pictures from my recent tour of the Rose Parade floats. I didn’t actually attend the parade, but rather observed the preparations for the parade. Here are a few more photos:
Notice the amazing quantity and quality of flowers on this small portion of one float. Overall, the Rose Parade uses hundreds […]
Scenes from the Rose Parade
Friday, January 2nd, 2009Along with my family and some friends, I visited the Rose Parade on New Year’s morning. We didn’t actually sit along the parade route and watch the parade live. Rather, we got up extra early and toured the amazing floats before the parade began. I thought I’d share a few scenes from our Rose Parade […]