Do you remember climbing trees as a kid? The big maple in the backyard, the tall oak in the far corner of the corn field, the quiet pine standing as a second steeple next to the church; each offering a new world to explore. It could sometimes be a little scary, was often exciting, but always a lot of fun. As we scaled the trunk, hand over hand, foot in notch; we’d soon find ourselves having achieved a dangerous height.  Should we misstep or lose our grip now, our fall could be deadly. Nearer the top of the tree and at the end of our climb, we began testing the limb we thought of stepping out on. Before we put all our weight on a branch, we inspected it the best we could.

For those in the Christian faith, climbing the old, lovely tree planted by the water has us also ascending to some fearful heights. Not every branch we’re asked to believe in seems as sturdy as we’d like. One limb we’re particularly shy about putting all our weight on is the promise of God’s healing power meeting an immediate need in our lives. As we examine this belief, we discover that the limb comes off  the trunk and is rooted, is alive with foliage and fruit, and looks strong enough. But just how strong and full of life is it? Can it handle the load of the things burdening my life? We shouldn’t live out our faith bear-hugging the trunk; but we shouldn’t wager our peace by taking fliers on the unfounded either. To help us think through this struggle, Andrew Wilson has written a wonderful article for an old issue of Christianity Today. In God Always Heals we learn a helpful perspective from a theological Tarzan. It should offer us a good hand-up for this Sunday’s climb. See you then!

Click here to read this week’s article

Encircling the town green in Anytown, U.S.A. are the key components of a healthy, symbiotic, and whole community. You’ll find a library and a bank, the Town Hall and a general store. There’ll be a lodging house, a sheriff’s office, and a pub. There should also be a big, grand building with a steeple.

Governments have long made room on the green for a church and churches have long prized their position of importance in the community. But, should churches simply settle for being a pew for Joe Blow to sit in when he’s not on the barstool or in the reading room or at the teller’s window; part of a well-balanced meal for the modern mind? Ben Franklin loved Christianity because it made for good citizens. He saw it as a means to an end; a necessary component for the building a vibrant country. But the kingdom Christ established here on earth was intended to be an end in and of itself. Jesus wouldn’t be as interested in people going to church as He would be in seeing them being the church. The bone thrown to us this week is a little article written by our 26th President in a 1917 issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal. In it, Teddy Roosevelt gives his ten reasons for Americans to consider going to church. We’ll look to see which ones we agree with, which ones we don’t, and which ones are missing. I’m trusting there’s plenty of marrow in the bone – see you this Sunday morning!

Click here to read this week’s article.

Robert E. Lee, the great Civil War general, was on his deathbed when he took a deep breath and exhaled a final order: “Strike the tent.” These last words were those of a pilgrim whose life here on earth was spent sojourning. He knew that his beloved Virginia was never his home or final resting place. The picture he paints of a man breaking camp to head off in a new direction was one he’d experienced many times as a soldier serving on a military campaign. When the order’s given, it’s time to move on. To strike a tent was to pull its pegs, wind its guidewires, and fold the canvas into the pack. Lee wasn’t fleeing the earth. He wasn’t retreating or on the run. He was breaking camp for Kingdom come. So, what exactly was the tent that Lee was looking to have taken down and packed for the journey across the Jordan? We tend to understand a man’s essence to be found in his soul and we tend to think of his physical body as but a house; an instrument for our spirit’s expression. But when we die, what should be done with this house? What is a proper way to dispose of the “remains”. While the Bible doesn’t give clear directives on the question or post any prohibitions, our practices do say something about our worldview and our hope. This week’s article for discussion is Grave Signs, written by Russell D. Moore. This somewhat provocative essay by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, challenges its reader to grapple with the question of whether cremation is consistent with biblical Christianity. Our aim will not be to decide the right and wrong of the matter as much as it will be to use the issue as an exercise in understanding; a kind of theological obstacle course run. Please consider joining us for what will likely be a lively discussion on death. God bless our study!

Click Here to read the article for this week, entitled “Grave Signs”