America has elected a new President, Barack Obama.  I’ve been reading words from many pastors and Christians the past couple of days that are reminding us that as a church we are called to pray for our leaders, including our President.  In the words of Paul:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men– the testimony given in its proper time (1 Timothy 2:1-6).

 In that spirit, we pray today that God would give our new President Elect the wisdom and godly focus he’ll need to lead our nation in a way that brings glory to God.  And, as Paul instructed Timothy, we pray for a government that would allow us to live peaceful, holy, lives, so that all men might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

As I prepare for the upcoming series on Death and the Life after that, I wanted to briefly meditate on one connection between ourselves and President-Elect Obama.  Read more »

For the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to get Bryan Adams out of my head.  Every time I sit down to plan ahead for my November sermons, all I can hear is “baby you’re all that I want, when you’re lying here in my arms… I’m finding it hard to believe, we’re in heaven.”  And I suppose therein lies one of the greatest tragedies of the Biblical doctrine of heaven:  it’s been terribly corrupted by the images and descriptions we get of it from the culture around us.  From Plato to Dante, from What Dreams May Come to the Far Side, unbiblical notions of the afterlife have tainted the stunning future reality offered us in the Bible, until, like the cartoon above, it seems impossible for heaven to live up to the hype.  And who can blame people for thinking that way?  Consider the traditional pop culture depiction of heaven:  Read more »

The sun is shining on the autumn leaves, reflecting a tapestry of reds, yellows, and oranges around the assembled crowd, as the young man stands, smiling. The last bridesmaid has taken her place to his right, beaming at him, and the winding path before him now stands deserted. And then, from over the hill and out of his line of sight, comes the faint noise of horse’s hooves, and soon enough he can just make out the horse and buggy coming around the bend.

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