Posts with the tag “cross-points”

Hebrews as Muse -- Heroes of Faith -- Hebrews 11
by SHCC Lebanon on March 24th, 2024
Who were your heroes growing up?  Mine tended to be sports related.  I was a St Louis Cardinal fan, so naturally I liked Stan Musial, but my favorite back in the 60’s was Curt Flood, their small centerfielder.  My love of reading is largely due to sports biographies I read. Musically, I became an Elvis Presley fan while in Jr High, after watching one of his movies; not sure that provided the best ...  Read More
Hebrews as Muse -- Washed in the Blood -- Hebrews 9
by SHCC Lebanon on March 10th, 2024
It’s a normal thing in life that when you stop to think about it, doesn’t feel very normal - a hunter in deer season kills his prize buck, then must do the dirty work, gutting and carrying the carcass to where the blood will be allowed to drain before it is skinned, and the meat processed.  My dad was a quail hunter and although he hunted a lot, often got his limit, and loved to eat quail, the cle...  Read More
Hebrews as Muse -- Seeing With Your Ears -- Hebrews 2
by SHCC Lebanon on January 21st, 2024
I’m a lifelong St Louis Cardinals fan.  During the late 1950’s and into the early 1960’s a real highlight was going with my dad and some of his friends with their sons to St Louis (about 100 miles), eating at a White Castle, then heading to old Sportsman’s Park on Grand Avenue in north St Louis, where the Cardinals played until 1966 when they moved downtown.  But we didn’t go that often.  Much mor...  Read More
New Year's Resolution-- Head--Heart--Hands--Health
by SHCC Lebanon on January 7th, 2024
Statistics say that only 9% of the people who make New Year’s Resolutions complete them.  In fact, 23% who make resolutions quit before a week goes by, and 43% have quit before the end of January.  The experts say there are four common reasons people fail at these resolutions.The resolution is made as a tradition (like with the new year) instead of when an actual event causing a need occurs that h...  Read More
Revive Us Again
by SHCC Lebanon on December 31st, 2023
For those old enough, like me, to remember the old hymns we sang, you’ll remember the song titled “Revive Us Again”.  “We praise Thee O Lord, For the Son of Thy love, For Jesus who died and is now gone above, Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Hallelujah, Amen, Hallelujah, Thine the glory, Revive us Again.”Revival.  We certainly understand the concept.  Our faith has stagnated, grown cold, maybe even di...  Read More
Saved -- But Sure?
by SHCC Lebanon on November 19th, 2023
It used to aggravate me a lot.  As a young college student in Springfield, MO, we’d go to the mall just to walk around.  Very often one of the students from Baptist Bible College would come up beside you and say, “Can I ask you a question?”  If you took the bait and said, “Sure” then he’d follow with this, “If you died tonight, are you confident you’d go to heaven?”  Many people (me included) woul...  Read More
Satan Hates Me
by SHCC Lebanon on November 5th, 2023
We all know the old song, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” And he does. The problem is that often we let that thought overshadow the reality of the spiritual battle going on for our soul. We expect smooth sailing, a love-filled path. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present ...  Read More
Streams in the Wasteland
by SHCC Lebanon on October 8th, 2023
I remember well our time in Petra back in 2018.  While visiting the library in Jordan, we were delighted that John and Eileen Richardson wanted to take this 2-day side trip.  It required us to get up before daylight, take a cab to the bus station, get in a crowded bus with a wide variety of people and ride over a very rough highway on the 6-hour journey to Wadi Musa, the town above the Petra compl...  Read More
Is God In Control
by SHCC Lebanon on September 10th, 2023
This is a complicated subject.  It takes some thought to wrap your head around it.  Worth the effort, I think, because I believe we often take a too casual approach that becomes unrealistic.  The simple question is asked: Is God in control?  Our quick response is almost always: Yes!  And I believe that response is true, in the big picture, but maybe not always true in the minute detail of our worl...  Read More
Dark Ages-- Barbarians in the Pew
by SHCC Lebanon on August 27th, 2023
“Whole tracts of our religion are bare of spiritual passion, or spiritual depth.  Modern Christianity speaks the language of our humane civilization; it does not speak the language of Christ.  The age, and much of the church, believes in civilization and is interested in the Gospel, instead of believing in the Gospel and being interested in civilization” (P.T. Forsyth)Again, borrowing from Charles...  Read More
The Real Mt Sinai
by SHCC Lebanon on July 23rd, 2023
We’ve been fortunate to travel on several “mission trips,” and all have been memorable. One stands out because of where we went and what we experienced that relates to the Bible. We traveled to the country of Jordan, just to the east of Israel. While there we had the privilege of taking a bus (an experience in itself) down to Petra. As you probably know, Petra is a canyon fortress in the southern ...  Read More
A New Temple Is Built
by SHCC Lebanon on July 2nd, 2023
Solomon built the original temple in Jerusalem. It was magnificent! The sins of a divided nation would eventually cause their downfall, the northern Kingdom taken away never to return, and the southern Kingdom (a little better) survived, but not until the temple was destroyed and they were taken into captivity in Babylon. Upon their return, under Nehemiah and Ezra, a rebuilding campaign sees a new...  Read More
Happiness in Hell
by SHCC Lebanon on June 11th, 2023
Happiness is desired by everyone. I want it. You want it. Our kids and grandkids want it. There are no exceptions. This is why it becomes such a lethal tool of the devil.And it is also why my Cross Point title this week is antithetical. No one who believes in hell believes you can be happy there. The words happiness and hell are at polar opposites. Now if you don’t believe in hell, that’s a topic ...  Read More
The Great I AM
by SHCC Lebanon on June 4th, 2023
“The mountains shake before him, The demons run and flee, At the mention of the name, King of Majesty, There is no power in Hell or any who can stand, Before the power and the presence of the Great I Am. Hallelujah, Holy, Holy, God Almighty, the Great I Am, Who is worthy, None beside Thee!”Those words from the song Great I Am by Jared Anderson always move me when Ryan leads it in worship. Life on ...  Read More
Slavery in the Roman World
by SHCC Lebanon on April 9th, 2023
The Bible is full of slavery. As we’ve said, it is an overarching theme of life, that we all are slaves to someone or something. We are made with free will; we can make choices. That freedom is real, but once we’ve chosen (or refuse to choose) we will discover who we will obey. The Hebrew word for slave, ebed, can speak of literal slavery to a human master, or be used metaphorically to describe be...  Read More
Slavery in the Modern World
by SHCC Lebanon on April 2nd, 2023
We ended the previous Cross Point saying, “In the end, the experience of a slave depended entirely on the master.” You might question that. Isn’t slavery always bad, regardless of the master, you might ask? Again, our thoughts about slavery in this country rely too much on the American experience. But the truth of the matter is, we are all slaves to something. From a biblical worldview perspective...  Read More
Slavery in the Ancient World
by SHCC Lebanon on March 24th, 2023
The Dahomey Kingdom of west Africa ruled during the days when African’s were being sold to the British, who in turn sold these men and women into slavery on the coasts of the United States. It was a sad situation, one African tribe would war against another African tribe, take captives, cage them, then sell them. We often imagine the “slavers” just taking these men and women, but that would requir...  Read More
Pandora's Box Unleashed
by SHCC Lebanon on March 19th, 2023
 In Greek mythology Pandora was the first woman.  According to Hesiod’s Theogony, after Prometheus, a fire god and trickster, had stolen fire from heaven and bestowed it on mortals, Zeus, the king of gods, determined to counteract his blessing. He commissioned Hephaestus to fashion a woman out of earth and bestow upon her their choicest gifts.  Pandora (her name) had a jar containing all manner of...  Read More
Control In Crisis
by SHCC Lebanon on March 17th, 2023
In Mark Moore’s book Quest 52, he writes about the trial of Jesus, and how it shows us the preferred way to prepare in a crisis, versus the poor way to prepare when crisis occurs.  Let’s consider some related thoughts that we can learn from, as we gain insight into preparing for crisis.Once Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is taken to the high priest. Technically, the high priest...  Read More
Producing Faith
by Ryan Shoemaker on March 1st, 2023
In the previous Cross Point we looked at how our salvation must come from the Lord, we cannot create our own salvation.  We must be clothed with Christ, which allows him to cover our sins.  Instead of a Fig Leaf Faith, we need a faith that has at its foundation true discipleship, following Jesus, trusting in him.  In this second article about faith, we look at our need to build on the foundation C...  Read More
Fig Leaf Faith
by Ryan Shoemaker on March 1st, 2023
At one point in his ministry, Jesus said that if you have faith as a mustard seed, you can do great things (Luke 17:5, 6).  Does that mean just a little faith is all we need?  In context, Jesus said this about faith to his apostles, not to the bigger crowd of followers.  The apostles would have miraculous abilities, to heal the sick, to raise the dead; but even for them it wasn’t unbridled ability...  Read More
Money Honey
by Ryan Shoemaker on February 10th, 2023
“It’s money honey, if you want to get along with me,” sang Elvis.  Unfortunately, that attitude penetrates many people.  In the movie All the President’s Men, about the Watergate scandal, we heard the famous refrain, “Follow the money!” meaning the source of corruption can be found if you follow the money trail.  The apostle Paul would famously say, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of e...  Read More
Psalm 78
by Ryan Shoemaker on February 5th, 2023
“Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.  I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us” (Psalm 78: 1-3). With these words this song begins, a maskil of Asaph.  A maskil is a poem or song that enforces wisdom, that calls on your intelligence, asking for piety.  ...  Read More
Elder Care(Part 2)
by Ryan Shoemaker on February 1st, 2023
In the previous Cross Point about elders, I talked about the history of elders and the listed qualifications of elders in the New Testament provided by the apostles Paul and Peter.  As you look at the qualities, you may note a couple of things.  First, they are primarily providing a list of personal characteristics, which define a mature, seasoned, experienced, biblically educated man.  Again, no ...  Read More
Pravda
by Ryan Shoemaker on January 13th, 2023
I just finished listening to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak to all of congress about how the United States has helped and hopefully will continue to help his country of Ukraine fight for freedom, and how they fight against the powerful lies of Russia’s elite, while Ukraine seeks to fight with dignity and for Truth, or “Pravda” in Ukrainian.  He said he believes they have already won the war f...  Read More
None The Wiser
by Ryan Shoemaker on January 6th, 2023
Type your new text here. There’s an old saying you’ve probably heard that goes, “I’m none the wiser.”  In other words, something has happened and yet I know no more, have gained no more wisdom, than before it happened. When I was college age, way back in the early 1970’s, the number of adult people who claimed no religious affiliation, who marked “none” on the question about religious affiliation,...  Read More
Demas Leaves the Faith
by Ryan Shoemaker on January 6th, 2023
Type your new text here. One of the controversies you can find within Christianity is whether a person can become a Christ-follower, truly accepting Jesus in faith as a disciple, then later abandon the faith and no longer follow Jesus, losing the salvation they once had. Such appears to be the case with Demas.The apostle Paul mentions Demas in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 4, where he says...  Read More
Thousands of Miles from Bethlehem
by Ryan Shoemaker on December 23rd, 2022
What must it have been like for Joseph and Mary to walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census?  And why would Mary even go, so close to delivering a child?  It would not have been an easy trip.  Most likely they did the normal thing for the time, avoiding Samaria, crossing to the east side of the Jordan River below the Sea of Galilee and then walking south until they crossed back near Jericho ...  Read More
Yield!
by Ryan Shoemaker on December 15th, 2022
We live in an odd time for Christianity.  So many “Christians” want to live life their own way, thinking Christian faith is a surreal concept, a mix of fact and fiction, open to their personal take on how it is lived out, typically with the Bible superglued to the shelf, a symbol but thought impractical for our values.  As a result, they accept cultural norms such as sexual promiscuity, living tog...  Read More
Afraid of Jesus
by Ryan Shoemaker on December 8th, 2022
Who would be afraid of Jesus?  Does that even make sense?  For many the answers would be, “Surely no one would be afraid of Jesus” and “No, to be afraid of him makes no sense.”  But not so quick.Indeed, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, is the manifestation of God’s love for us.  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Paul asked in his letter to the Romans (8:35).  In his book to the Ephes...  Read More
Myths About How We Got The Bible
by Ryan Shoemaker on November 23rd, 2022
We live in a day when the Bible is pushed aside by many people in our culture.  Even by many who call themselves Christian.  It is no longer the source of morals, of doctrine, of principles for living.  One reason is because of the critics who dismiss it, saying it is not from God, but just a human document.  Here are a few of the myths about it, and responses to the critics.Some say the writings ...  Read More
What Has Gone Wrong?
by Ryan Shoemaker on October 28th, 2022
If you are like me, you look at the landscape of our society and wonder: what in the world has gone wrong?  We once were a country that honored God, the Bible, the morals taught in the Bible, and even though we had many problems and many individuals with problems; overall we trusted in the Lord and had time honored principles we lived by that derived from the teaching of Jesus and his apostles.  T...  Read More
When It\'s My Time
by Ryan Shoemaker on October 21st, 2022
I was at McDonald’s recently to grab an unhealthy lunch, noticing someone I knew in line ahead of me.  After ordering we visited a bit while waiting on our food.  We commiserated about health issues and then he said, “I’ve decided not to worry about my health; when it’s my time to go it’s my time to go. God has a plan for our lives, and I just need to stop worrying.”Now, I agree with one thing.  T...  Read More
In Essentials Unity
by Ryan Shoemaker on October 14th, 2022
There are several slogans that have come out of the Restoration Movement (a church fellowship that came out of a desire to abandon man made creeds and get back to New Testament teaching and guidelines for Christianity), this movement beginning in the early 1800’s.  One example of such a slogan is: Where the Bible speaks, we speak, and where the Bible is silent, we are silent (or allow varying opin...  Read More
The Wrath of God
by Ryan Shoemaker on September 30th, 2022
In our modern culture we find many people who call themselves “Christian” but who do not want to comply with the guidelines for faithful Christian living described by Jesus and his apostles.  They want what David Faust in a recent Christian Standard article called an “un-angry God.”  This term comes from a reaction to the famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards in 1741 entitled “Sinners in the Hands of ...  Read More
Smart Phones: Be a Smart Christian
by Ryan Shoemaker on September 24th, 2022
Maybe you remember this from Jonathan Swift’s satire called Gulliver’s Travels.  The Lilliputians (little people) believe Gulliver’s clock is his god.  Why?  Because he seldom does anything without referring to his clock.  He tells them that it points out the time for all his actions.  This response provided a picture of how enslaved such people had become to time management.  It raises the questi...  Read More
The Three Sieves
by Ryan Shoemaker on September 21st, 2022
What is a sieve?  Well, my freshman year in college the dorm RA (resident assistant) was named Jim Sieve, but of course, that’s not what we’re after here.  If you do much cooking, maybe you know what the word means.  According to the dictionary, a sieve is a utensil consisting of a wire mesh held within a frame, used for straining solids from liquids.  In other words, a filter. The story is told o...  Read More
Sayings of the Saints
by Ryan Shoemaker on September 9th, 2022
Indeed, all Christians are saints, as the Bible uses the word.  But as we know, through the ages the Catholic church usurped that word making it unique for those who lived exemplary lives, at least in the mind of the authorities.  To be a saint meant the officials of the church had decided the person fit their criteria and were deemed a “saint.”So, when I call this Cross Point “Sayings of the Sain...  Read More
Melt Down The Saints
by Ryan Shoemaker on September 1st, 2022
During the tenure of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of the British Isles in the 1600’s there was a severe shortage of silver for minting coins.  Cromwell ordered his advisors to scour the country, searching for sources of silver.  They came back to him with the report that no source could be found for silver other than what was used to make statues of the noted religious figures of the past, lo...  Read More
Wasted on the Way
by Ryan Shoemaker on August 26th, 2022
As a college age kid living in the dormitory called Freudenberger House (Freddy for short) we would listen to all the popular music of that time, as students played their records in the dorm rooms.  I often listened to the songs of James Taylor, or Carol King.  One of my favorites was Dennis Yost and the Classics Four, with songs like Stormy and Spooky.  This was not a good thing overall, since th...  Read More