Posts from June 2018

Posts from June 2018

The Christian Nation

This week we will celebrate Independence Day, commemorating the Declaration by the Continental Congress that the 13 colonies constituted a new nation separate from the British Empire. We are all fortunate to live in the United States; that is certainly something worth remembering, and we should thank God for this privilege. But that thanksgiving can go too far. A good example comes from just this past week, where First Baptist Church in Dallas held a “Freedom Sunday” service. They took…

Why Are You Idle?

Jesus once told a story about a man and the laborers he hired. He went early in the morning into the marketplace and bargained with his laborers for a day’s work. Late in the afternoon, he returned to the marketplace and found still other workers standing there. To those who were loitering while they should have been working, he asked, “Why do you stand here idle all day?” The answer of those workers was as inadequate as the course they…

A Family Resemblance

Today is Father’s Day. I hope all of the fathers and grandfathers reading this have a happy day. I remember the first time my parents came and visited when I was preaching in Spicewood. An older gentleman in the congregation asked my father, “Are you Bryant’s daddy?” My dad responded, “Does he owe you money?” That was good for a laugh, and the fellow in question never tired of retelling that story on me. But, you know, it is not…

A Wall of Separation

This week, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop, in which a baker refused to craft a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage due to his religious beliefs. There were a number of issues in play, but the Court hinged their decision on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s overt hostility to the baker’s faith. This is a very narrow holding that does not really address the larger questions the case raised, leaving many on both sides of…

Living With Joy

I read one time about an incident that occurred in a restaurant. I want you to visualize a man at a buffet style establishment. He is standing at the salad bar. Do have that picture? Now picture him covered in Thousand Island Dressing. It is running from his hair, over his glasses, down his face, all over his jacket, pants, and shoes. We are not just talking about a little salad dressing here. We are talking 2 gallons of Thousand…