Cyber-Chapel Blog

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  • In Defense of the Sermon

    Traditionally, the sermon has been an important feature of the assemblies of God’s people. The sermon is so central to many groups that its delivery is one of the main duties of a professionally trained and salaried individual, the pastor.

    The sermon is coming under attack in many quarters as ineffective and out of date. Yet the practice of delivering material through an extended, carefully prepared verbal presentation has strong biblical precedent. Before abandoning serious expository preaching, let’s think more carefully.
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  • God is Haughty

    In a recent post, I called attention to a word family in Hebrew, derivatives of the verb עלל, with an interesting pattern of distribution. When applied to God, these words are consistently used to motivate people to praise him. When applied to men, they are just as consistently negative, and describe an attitude of childishness and irresponsibility.

    This is not the only word family that is negative when applied to man, but positive when applied to God. Here are two examples from another:

    Isa 12:5 Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

    Ps 17:10 [The wicked] are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

    This time, the focus is on pride. It is wonderful for God to behave in a proud, haughty fashion, but every verse that applies these terms to people condemns them.
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  • God is Irresponsible

    What do these verses have in common?

    Isa 12:4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

    Psa 141:4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

    These verses seem to be very different. The first proclaims the Lord’s glorious acts, using a distinctive Hebrew word that is often used to describe his glorious doings. The second condemns men for their wicked behavior, again using a distinctive word that characterizes human wickedness. Remarkably, these two distinctive words are one and the same: עלילה! What does this word mean? What does it tell us about ourselves, and about God?
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  • Is God angry with Japan?

    Japan is wrestling with multiple catastrophes of unprecedented proportions. The earthquake of March 11 led to a devastating tsunami, and the combination of the earthquake and the tsunami disabled the cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear complex, leading to dangerous instability and release of radioactivity. Any one of these events would be major disaster. Three days later, Shintaro Ishihara, mayor of Tokyo, suggested that the events carried a spiritual message: “We need to use tsunami to wipe out egoism, which has rusted onto the mentality of Japanese over a long period of time. I think (the disaster) is tembatsu (divine punishment), although I feel sorry for disaster victims.” Could he be right?
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  • Resources on the Headings of the Psalms

    Do you find the headings of the Psalms confusing? Here are some resources to help you understand them.

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  • How to Motivate God

    In our study of Isa 37:3-6, I was struck with how Hezekiah motivated his request to the Lord for help against Assyria, and with the rich precedent for his request.

    How do we motivate our requests for God’s intervention? We often plead the dismal condition we face, and ask that God in his love would intervene. Our focus is on ourselves, our needs, and God’s attitude toward us. All of these have their place, but Hezekiah’s example can teach us a much more fundamental principle for motivating God in prayer.

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  • The Golden Rule and Tit for Tat

    We all know “the Golden Rule” that the Lord Jesus taught, Luke 6:31:

    And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

    The Old Testament judge Samson articulated the opposite principle, which we might call “the Leaden Rule.” His rule plays an important role in modern game theory, and illustrates an important difference between biblical and modern thought.

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  • What Books Belong in the Bible?

    Christians sometimes ask why our Bible contains the books that it does. Why do we recognize some books as the Word of God, and not others? Why do the Bibles published by some denominations include books that others leave out? What about the claims of some groups to have new revelation that appeared after New Testament times (such as the Qur’an or the Book of Mormon?

    Some years ago, I wrote two papers addressing these themes. Perhaps someday I’ll have time to redo them, but for now this post will provide some context so that you can read them for insight into these important questions.
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  • A rose by any other name…

    Some months ago an article in a magazine caught my attention. It was complaining about the increased gap between the rich and the poor in the US. The author acknowledged that even the poor had become much more wealthy over the past decade than they were before, but complained that the difference between them and the rich had increased. This increased difference, she claimed, was a problem, because it constituted “relative deprivation,” a serious sociological problem that has been shown to harm people’s health.

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  • How Should Elders Rule?

    About a year ago, a brother wrote me, “Have you studied the words translated as ‘rule’ and “obey’ in Hebrews 13:7, 17, and 24?  How do you see those words interacting with the present day view and use of authority in the church?” He was concerned with what he called “overbearing elders.” His question stimulated me to devote some attention to the topic, and others might profit from what I found.

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