The answer to the question, found in The Heidelberg Catechism, has been particularly resonant with me (for unknown reasons) this morning.

Q:  What is your only comfort in life and in death?

¹ 1 Cor. 6:19-20
² Rom. 14:7-9
³ 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
⁴ 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
⁵ John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
⁶ John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
⁷ Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
⁸ Rom. 8:28
⁹ Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
¹⁰ Rom. 8:1-17

A Christian is an impregnable person.  He is a person that never can be conquered.  Emmanuel became man to make the church and every Christian to be one with him.  Christ’s nature is out of danger of all that is hurtful.  The sun shall not shine, the wind shall not blow, to the church’s hurt.  For the church’s Head ruleth over all things and hath all things in subjection.  Therefore let all the enemies consult together, this king and that power, there is a counsel in heaven which will disturb and dash all their counsels.  Emmanuel in heaven laugheth them to scorn.  As Luther said, ‘Shall we weep and cry when God laugheth?’

Richard Sibbes, preface, Bruised Reed, p.6

CNN had a fantastic article by Albert Mohler addressing the question as to why there is a focus on homosexuality.  I appreciated CNN’s presentation of Mohler’s article.  Make sure you read the whole thing as Mohler addresses some of the questions you may have, or have been asked, about when the topic of the Bible and homosexuality comes up (things like slavery, polygamy, eating shellfish, etc.).

Here’s Mohler’s concise and clear answer as to why Christians speak about homosexuality:

Why are Christians so concerned with homosexuality? In the first place, that question is answered by the simple fact that it is the most pressing moral question of our times. Christians must be concerned about adultery, pornography, injustice, dishonesty and everything the Bible names as sin. But when my phone rings with a call from a reporter these days, the question I am asked is never adultery or pornography. It is about homosexuality.

Read the rest.

An insightful article on a hot-button issue.  Well worth your read.

President Obama’s recent statement concerning his views of same sex marriage has generated no small amount of discussion and controversy. In what was doubtlessly a political calculation the President made that statement couched in political and attitudinal terms. That is, this new take is his personal view. He has personally has come to a place where he can now accept and stand behind same sex marriage

This change is not restricted solely to the President. Advocates for Gay rights have tirelessly worked to change the public perception of same sex couples. Over the last 15-25 years America has done a near 180 on the issue. The attempt has been to sanitize and normalize homosexuality.

There have been countless actors, musicians, athletes, and politicians who have publicly spoken out in favor of Gay rights. Many from these same spheres have themselves disclosed that they themselves are gay. It has become commonplace to have television shows and movies with gay characters. Characters like Oscar on The Office have helped to gradually move the meter on public opinion.

Read the rest.

Another great clip from another great sermon:

The whole pith and marrow of the religion of Christianity lies in the doctrine of substitution, and I hesitate not to affirm my conviction that a very large proportion of Christians are not Christians at all, for they do not understand the fundamental doctrine of the Christian creed; and alas! there are preachers who do not preach, or even believe this cardinal truth. They speak of the blood of Jesus in an indistinct kind of way, and descant upon the death of Christ in a hazy style of poetry, but they do not strike this nail on the head, and lay it down that the way of salvation is by Christ’s becoming a substitute for guilty man.

This shall make me the more plain and definite. Sin is an accursed thing. God, from the necessity of his holiness, must curse it; he must punish men for committing it; but the Lord’s Christ, the glorious Son of the everlasting Father, became a man, and suffered in his own proper person the curse which was due to the sons of men, that so, by a vicarious offering, God having been just in punishing sin, could extend his bounteous mercy towards those who believe in the Substitute.

Ran across this preparing for last Sunday’s sermon:

By Christ’s death the Father’s good pleasure was effected and prospered. God’s good pleasure is, that that this world shall one day be totally redeemed from sin; God’s good pleasure is, that this poor planet, so long swathed in darkness, shall soon shine out in brightness, like a new-born sun. Christ’s death hath done it. The stream that flowed from his side on Calvary shall cleanse the world from all its blackness. That hour of mid-day darkness was the rising of a new sun of righteousness, which shall never cease to shine upon the earth. Yes, the hour is coming when swords and spears shall be forgotten things—when the harness of war and the pageantry of pomp shall all be laid aside for the food of the worm or the contemplation of the curious. The hour approacheth when old Rome shall shake upon her seven hills, when Mohammed’s crescent shall wane to wax no more, when all the gods of the heathens shall lose their thrones and be cast out to the moles and the bats; and then, when from the equator to the poles Christ shall be honored, the Lord paramount of earth, when from land to land, from the river even to the ends of the earth, one King shall reign, one shout shall be raised, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” Then, my brethren, shall it be seen what Christ’s death has accomplished, for “the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

Read the sermon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Over the past two months our diocese in formation has been having prayerful, considered conversation regarding the topic of the ordination of women (we’ve been considering both office and function – an important, and often contracted, distinction).  This past weekend I ran across an excellent article in the spring edition of the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood addressing the topic both biblically and historically.  The author of the above titled article explored nature of “masculine” ministry through the lens of the life and ministry of J.C. Ryle (the great 19th century Anglican bishop from Liverpool).

Click here to view the embedded video.

This Sunday we kick off a sermon series working our way through the Thirty-Nine Articles.  We’ve broken the sermons down into a series of mini-series that address the Articles thematically.  Of particular enjoyment will be some of the guest preachers we’ve arranged to take on a particular Article: Kendall Harmon, Peter Moore and Justyn Terry.  I’m sure a few more names will be added in the weeks ahead.

Here’s the schedule:

God is Love

April 22          The Trinity: God is Love     (Article I)

April 29          The Incarnation: God Manifests His Love     (Article II)

May 6             Death & Resurrection: God Proves His Love     (Articles III & IV)

May 13           The Holy Spirit: God Gives His Love      (Article V)

Can You Hear Me Now?

May 20           Scripture: God Speaks     (Articles VI & VII)

May 27           Tradition: The Redeemed Speak     (Article VIII)

Cause, Condition, and Remedy

June 3            Sin: A Treatable Disease     (Articles IX, X, XI)

June 10          Works: The Wrong Treatment     (Articles XII, XIII, XIV)

June 17          Christ: The Right Medicine     (Article XV)

June 24          Sanctification: Health Takes Time     (Article XVI)

July 1             Perseverance: Trust the Doctor, Not the Patient     (Article XVII)

The Church

July 8              The Church: Founded on the Name of Christ     (Article XVIII)

July 15            The Church: A Hospital for Sinners     (Article XIX, XX, XXI)

July 22            Pastors: Attending Physicians     (Article XXIII)

July 29            Baptism: A Badge of Health     (Article XXVII)

August 5         The Lord’s Supper: A Gospel Feast     (Article XXVIII)

August 12       The Perfect Prescription     (Article XXXI)

August 19        Discipline: A Last Chance     (Article XXXIII)

Christian Privilege/ Christian Responsibility

August 26      Faith and Politics     (Article XXXVII)

September 2   What’s Mine is Mine?     (Article XXXVIII)

September 9   No Fingers Crossed     (Article XXXIX)