"[Contextualization in preaching] means to resonate with yet defy the culture around you. It means to antagonize society's idols while showing respect for its people and many of its hopes and aspirations. It means expressing the gospel in a way that is not only comprehensible but also convincing." Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an … Continue reading Quote of Note #84: Antagonizing Idols–Respecting People
Tag: Christianity
Quote of Note #83: The Bible and Free Grace
"There are, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: Is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do or basically about what he has done?" Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. New York: Viking, 2015, page 60.
Pastor Note #85 — The Demonic Heresy of Christian White Nationalism
There is heresy finding foothold in America and in some other parts of the world. It is not new. The devil is not remarkably inventive. He recycles old poison wherever he thinks it will work. In America this heresy is arising under labels such as “Christian white nationalism” and “Christian Identity.” As a pastor and … Continue reading Pastor Note #85 — The Demonic Heresy of Christian White Nationalism
Quote of Note #70 — Squirrel-cage of Consumerism
"I do not think we shall ever escape from the appalling squirrel-cage of economic confusion in which we have been madly turning for the last three centuries of so, the cage in which we landed ourselves by acquiescing in a social system based on Envy and Avarice. A society in which consumption has to be … Continue reading Quote of Note #70 — Squirrel-cage of Consumerism
Bible Note #37 — Deuteronomy 23:24-25: Provision for Neighbors in Need
24 “If you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. 25 If you go into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.” Deuteronomy … Continue reading Bible Note #37 — Deuteronomy 23:24-25: Provision for Neighbors in Need
Pastor Note #84 — Surrender to an “Interfering God”
In his spiritual memoir, Surprised by Joy, the great Christian writer, C. S. Lewis, admits that from the days of his youth one of the things he disliked most in adults was their tendency to interfere with his life. “No word in my vocabulary expressed deeper hatred than the word Interference.” He notes that it … Continue reading Pastor Note #84 — Surrender to an “Interfering God”
Quote of Note #56–Receiving the Power
"John tells us at the beginning of his Gospel that the thing that is going to differentiate the new era from the old, even including John the Baptist, is this baptism with the Spirit. Here is the first principle. It is possible to be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ without having received the baptism … Continue reading Quote of Note #56–Receiving the Power
Pastor Note #83 — God’s Toolbox
I love hand tools – old hand tools. My workbench and toolboxes are stocked with a wide variety of old hammers of all sorts, wood plains of several different types, chisels, and draw knives, and hand saws. I have a few very interesting old pipe wrenches, which I honestly hope I never have to use, … Continue reading Pastor Note #83 — God’s Toolbox
Quote of Note #52 — Prayer, Praise, and the Christian Life
"To praise God for mercies received both with our voices and with our actions, and then to pray to God for the mercies that we need, devoutly acknowledging that they come from him, these two exercises in one form or another should make up the sum total of human life. A life psalm should be … Continue reading Quote of Note #52 — Prayer, Praise, and the Christian Life
Bible Note #35: Compassion for the Weak — Job 29:14-17
Job is a tricky book to use. The book is a debate among Job and some friends over how to understand suffering and what God is doing in the midst of that suffering. We should not assume that everything that Job or the others say is correct. The only one who speaks infallibly in the … Continue reading Bible Note #35: Compassion for the Weak — Job 29:14-17
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 