SERMON: Grace and Peace to You – Galatians 1:1-10

I preached this sermon at Ryker’s Ridge Baptist Church on the morning of November, 13 2011. In this message, I speak of Paul’s gracious calling as an apostle, his gracious welcome to the churches at Galatia, and his gracious warning to those who are believing and teaching a false gospel. Grace is something that characterizes Paul’s ministry, and it should ours as well.

I sincerely hope you benefit from this message!

Returning to the U.S. after two years as a missionary in South America, I’ve embraced opportunities to share the gospel wherever I’m at. It has been an eye-opener to the broad spectrum of eclectic and contradictory worldviews. Among those I’ve witnessed to, a surprising and recurring theme has been the belief in reincarnation. I know [...]

The film writers and makers of Hollywood are remaking and reproducing some of the movies and figures from the past in new and exciting ways.  I have enjoyed their recreations of Batman, Transformers, X-men, and so forth.  One of those movies which will be released tomorrow will be called “The Rise of the Planet of [...]

Bad things happen when good people do nothing. And that’s exactly where the Christian community finds itself today on the issue of homosexuality. Christians are having a harder and harder time speaking up about sexuality and gender roles as our culture migrates further and further into a muddy gray area on the issue. It’s easier [...]

Why do we celebrate Easter? Why did Jesus have to die? What was accomplished on the cross? What is important about Christ’s resurrection? Thabiti Anyabwile and Erwin Lutzer help us to think through these important matters.

As a political reporter, I found myself a few days ago in one of those smoky situations straight from a movie scene. To my left, an elected official danced close with a girl half his age, a girl not his wife. To my right, a lobbyist for a huge company stared drunkenly into the eyes [...]

From Suriname June 20, 2010 People have often asked me if meeting and/or interacting with another American, or even another white person for that matter, is a positive occurrence. One would think, in light of the fact that I live alone in a village in which there have been stretches as long a month-and-a-half with [...]

Rob Bell is dead wrong with his redefinition of “hell.”  He redefines hell in an unbiblical fashion.  Following his discussion of his universalism in Velvet Elvis, he writes, Heaven is full of forgiven people.  Hell is full of forgiven people.  Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for.  Hell is full of [...]

Why? Why did this happen? More than ten thousand people are confirmed dead, several nuclear reactors are spewing toxic radiation, and millions of homes and livelihoods destroyed. Amidst the massive destruction wrought by the recent earthquake in Japan, the troubling question arises.

Creation, evolution, and everything in between have recently become major talking points in the Christian blogosphere. Sadly, though, many people spend far too much time arguing points instead of discussing issues. One of the primary ways we can stop the arguing and start the discussion is by clarifying our terms. People care far too little about words. I once [...]