Podcast on The Gospel and Ethnic Unity
Here’s a helpful sermon on racism, ethnicity, and unity. Does “race” and “racism” exist in the Bible? Where do we see conflict and tension in the New Testament church? What can we learn from the apostles when problems happened along lines of ethnicity? The most helpful part for me was looking at the Jerusalem church in Acts 6 where ethnic tension occurred. These were people who had been present at Pentecost - and yet mistakes were allowed. But we see a great example of the response of the apostles to listen to the complaint and respond appropriately. The Gospel Coalition
Why ‘Falling Out of Love’ Never Justifies Divorce
Written by John Piper. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-falling-out-of-love-never-justifies-divorce Read:  Mark 10:1-12 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] Beyond Reasoning We would be naïve, I think, to suppose that people, young or old — our own children or those of others — will act on the basis of reason and biblical truth when it comes to justifying divorce. I would guess that 95 cases out of 100 people do what they want to do and then find reasons to
The Freest People Are Servants of All
The Freest People Are Servants of All Written by John Piper. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-freest-people-are-servants-of-all Read:  Mark 9:30-50 The word simplistic exists because there are kinds of guidance and kinds of explanations that are too simple to account for the real complexities of life. They are simplistic. We don’t admire such counselors or preachers or teachers. They just don’t seem to be living in the real world where things are often very messy. In all my reading of Paul over the years, he has never struck me as simplistic. A good example is the way he deals with our submission to authority in this world, and
Help My Unbelief
Written by John Piper. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/help-my-unbelief Read:  Mark 9:2-29 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3) In the context of this verse, Paul is concerned that people were thinking of themselves “more highly than
The Covenant Prayer
This past Sunday (7/19/20) we closed our service by praying this prayer together.  It was originally included in the Covenant Renewal Service crafted by John Wesley way back in 1755.  But he attributes the prayer to puritan Richard Alleine who lived in the 1600’s!  So believing folks have been praying this prayer for nearly 400 years! When I pray this prayer, it helps me re-order my life around my great King Jesus and his will for me.  It helps protect me from the folly of getting that backwards - of trying to re-order the world around me and my desires!  I hope it serve you
4 Reasons to Wear a Mask, Even if You Hate It
I know what you might be thinking: “Just what I need; another article about coronavirus and face masks.” For many of us, talking with other people about wearing masks has become wearisome and even annoying at times. If you line up ten different people, you might get ten different answers to the question, “How do you feel about wearing a face mask?” There are many who have written about this topic from scientific or political perspectives. I recently came across this article by author Brett McCracken that offers some encouragement for us Christians who may not be too excited about
The Shocking Words of Christ
By Jimmy Agan.  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-shocking-words-of-christ/ Read:  Mark 7:24-37 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] It is often said—and rightly so—that Jesus is the hero of every text of Scripture. Yet when we first encounter him in Matthew 15:26, Jesus looks anything but heroic. Instead, it appears that he is failing to be missional, and being entirely rude in the process. Consider the context:[1] Jesus, in “the district of Tyre and Sidon” (Matt. 15:21), is approached by “a
The Making of a Modern Pharisee
By Marshall Segal. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-making-of-a-modern-pharisee Read:  Mark 7:1-23 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] We are all born legalists, but we are made into Pharisees. Spurgeon once preached, “Beloved, the legalist [in us] is a great deal older than the Christian. If I were a legalist today, I should be some fifteen or sixteen years older than I am as a Christian; for we are all born legalists.” We are all born believing we can earn and
A Prayer To Turn My Back on Evil and Be Allowed to Fight Injustice
A prayer to repent of my own sin, to turn my back on corruption in my land, and to be equipped to fight evil.
Christ the Warrior in Prayer
By R.C. Sproul.  https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/prayer-life-jesus/ Read:  Mark 6:45-56 [The Dwell App has a variety of voices and background music selections to aid you in listening to the scriptures (we have a 60 day free trial for NWers)! Click HERE to sign up.] We are accustomed to understanding the shepherding language in Scripture in warm, pastoral terms of comfort. Certainly, that is appropriate, since the Bible often uses shepherding imagery in such a way (for example, Ps. 23). However, the language of shepherd and sheep also appears in reference to military leaders. It is applied to Assyrian generals in Nahum 3:18. Ezekiel 37:24 likens the
