SPCC Blog - March 2008

The Verse That I Wish Was in the Bible But Isn't

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:00:00 +0100

"Jesus Wept." That one is in there. John 11:35. But "Jesus was keeled over, laughing" is not there. And oh how I wish it was. I thought about this further this weekend during Jim's Easter message.

I often hear people talk about God having a sense of humor. I suppose it is possible, but it has always been a bit of an exegetical stretch to me to see that in scripture. Mark Driscoll preached a sermon on humor , and while it made several assertions that God has a s [...]

Romans sermons, Same-sex rights in Washington, and coincidence.

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I don't believe in coincidence. And I find it interesting that during the same perdiod of time the Washington State Legislature passes a bill to extend 170 new rights to same-sex couples, we are hitting Romans 1:24-32. Could God be instructing us at to what we ought to believe about this issue at the very time it parades through the media?

How to fight for assurance that you are saved.

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Do you ever doubt your salvation? Do you ever wonder, "Am I real or am I just going through the motions?--am I really born again?" I do. It may not be comforting to you for you to hear a pastor say that.

But I read my bible and find warning after warning about not deceiving yourself. I remember an exerpt from a book by Jonathan Edwards that scared the daylights out of me: Are you saved or do the powers of your imagination have you convinced that you are?

My aim h [...]

My family is joining the freakshow

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

In July, Lord willing, we'll be having our fourth child. We know a few families with four kids, and one of them seems to have an incident almost weekly with other people's "dismay" over the sheer quantinity of thier children--as if they lived too close to a stork farm or something. Kids come via something much better than storks...

Today in the parking lot of the local grocery store I saw a bumper sticker that kind of sums up some of this American sentimen [...]

When a preacher says: "crap"

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

In this video that someone has put together, you can hear John Piper talk about one of the fundamental differences between the real gospel and the gospel so common to our day that he hates.

Being a Discerning Movie Watcher

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

A while back a friend of mine at another church posted an article on this important topic of being a discerning partaker of films. Read it...it is good. One of the sites he recommends is incredibly helpful. It is called Kids in Mind and is really helpful on telling you why a movie was rated the way it was. I will issue this warning, it does describe in candid detail the scenes in question.

What I like about this site and the other sites Ryan recommends in his blog is that [...]

Oprah the Heretic

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Ok, I've felt this way for a long time, but now I've had it. Oprah has gone too far.

It used to be fairly bland: "there are many ways to heaven" she might say. But now with her endorsement and propogation of the "Course in Miracles" by Marianne Williamson on her website, Oprah crossed the line. For example, I read this today from one of the lessons...

You are indeed the light of the world with such a function. The Son of God looks to y [...]

Sin no more...

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

After writing what I did last night, I awoke to read these short thoughts by John Piper on the Desiring God website .

What also came to mind was the verse in Mark 9:43 where Jesus says: "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off."

Sin is serious, and the thoughts that Piper shares should give us not simply hope to cope with the problem, but joyful confidence to want to.

Why I cherish and despise community

bryan@spcc-cma.org — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:00:00 +0100

In Romans chapter 7, Paul talks about the division he feels in himself as a Christian. At one point he says (vv 22-23), "For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members."

On one hand there is his mind that delights in the Word, but his flesh yearns to sin. I was thinking about this this evening when thinking about the community that [...]