I am really looking forward to this weekend. I have always loved the Fourth of July as it is one of my favorite holidays.
This past Sunday was the first installment of our Gospel and Culture series. We will do the second installment sometime in the future. I am leaning towards Race Relations as the second topic as I believe that is a relevant issue that desperately needs Gospel responses.You can watch the sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf1Kg2xUvTE
I have written a blog post that expands on many of the points we explored this past Sunday. I invited people to text me on Sunday with questions or comments...I greatly enjoyed interacting with so many of you. This blog post addresses the main themes of the questions I received.
Part of my goal as a preacher is to stir our souls in a way that biblically challenges us, so deeply, that our only answer is Jesus. That, to me, is what it means to "have our toes stepped on".
Here is the link:
These are tough issues! It is only fair that Christians be given room to openly answer these questions since so much room has been given to others to work through and answer their own questions and to legislate their conclusions. I had a ten year old (!) asking questions the other night about these issues based on things he heard in public school. Crazy times...but we must not shrink back from addressing the issues head on. We won't find ourselves aligned with Republicans or Democrats if we are looking to the Gospel for answers and responses to cultural issues. We should not be choosing the "lesser of two evils" and we should be wary of those who give lip service to these positions. Charles Spurgeon said, "of two evils choose neither." We will be quite alone, odd, and in the minority. I already know I am in the minority, even among evangelical pastors, when it comes to my approach to these cultural issues. I am sure there are areas where I am wrong...there was only one perfect pastor...and we nailed him to a cross.
I believe these are incredibly exciting days to be a Christian. There are wonderful opportunities for the church to stand firm, but to offer the hope of the Gospel. Our response should be Jesus' response to the woman caught in adultery in John 8, "I do not condemn you...go and sin no more."
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