Seventeen82

   In Sabbath School the past several months we’ve been working through the Book of Romans, hitting chapter 14 on the Lord’s Day prior. While one of the less time-investing portions of the systematic theology of the Christian faith written by the Apostle Paul, it involves just as vital a testimony of what matters to believers than any other part. For my monthly installment here at Seventeen82 I’d like to take a minute while you sit right there and I tell you a little bit how we are to treat one another when we find places in the life of the Church where we seem to be at odds. Christian liberty is not the freedom to decide for myself what I want or don’t want to do. One of the shortcomings of modern translations of the English Bible is a failure to distinguish between the singular and plural forms of you. That has led folks to read themselves into “you” when they should be seeing the community of faith every time the “you” gets namechecked by an author of Scripture. There is no sense of

  In August of 1969, my father got on his   1950 Harley Davidson Panhead in Falls Church, Virginia , and headed north. He was headed to New York for a concert. Jimi Hendricks, Janis Joplin, The Who and basically every great artists of that era would be performing. As he crossed into Pennsylvania, the rattling old retired D.C. police motorcycle got the better of him. His body sore and beaten he turned back south towards home. He missed Woodstock. Almost everyone in my father’s generation has a Woodstock story, and most of them tell how they missed it - the most iconic event of that decade.   In February of 2023, the news began to spread that the Spirit was doing something at Asbury University. A chapel speaker called the students to think on Romans 12:8-21. The focus of his talk was to love one another. After the end of chapel, some students hung around, and within a short time the place was packed and classes were cancelled. For the last 12 days the chapel has been filled with people s

  ​ I’m guessing that some of  you  have already failed at some of  you r New Year’s resolutions. If you haven’t yet, you almost certainly will within the next few months. Failed resolutions are just one of many things that can bring discouragement. You may be discouraged by recent election results, by the vast cultural divide that is ever widening in our society. You may be discouraged in your struggle against sin. Your kids may not be walking with the  Lord,  or your marriage hasn’t turned out like you dreamed.  You got passed over for that job promotion, or your engagement has been broken off.   The book of  Zechariah is  a book  writ ten  to a discouraged people,  and  C hapter  O ne provides us with three principles for overcoming discouragement.  ​ V erses 1-6  teach us that  d iscouragement is overcome when we turn to God .  The year is 520 BC and 16 years earlier, the first wave of Jews had returned from exile and laid down the foundation for rebuilding the Temple of God. Never

    Valentine ’ s Day is just around the corner , and if you are lik e me, you have no idea what you are getting your wife. Flowers die, candy is empty calories, and  it is  next-to- impossible to get a re servation  at any of the nice restaurants  (I ’ m also the guy who bought his wife a carpet clean er for Christmas  –  but  only because she asked for one).  Plus, if you are a busy pastor, you likel y have a meeting on Tuesday the 14 th   (I need to attend the Diaconate meeting  that evening , for instance).  My  mind will  likely  be any where but on love (at least r omantic love) on Valentine's Day.  B ut, as the Missus  always reminds me, it ’ s just a day on the calendar.   There is no doubt the Bible talks a great deal about love. The two great commandments, according to Jesus, are based on love (love for God and love for neighbor). Paul writes that love is the fulfillment of the  law (Romans 13:10). John states that love for the brethren is one of the marks of true Christi