Tag Archives: Evil

9/11 Reflections

Where were you when the world stopped turning? This is the question that Trevin Wax asked his readers on his blog. Trevin also asked some of the leading pastors about their thoughts on ministry in a Post-9/11 World. Tim Keller did an excellent job addressing the issues of suffering, hope, and God’s sovereignty over 9/11 for The Gospel Coalition. Crossway had a series of posts based on R.C. Sproul’s book When Worlds Collide: Where is God?, asking Was 9/11 A Senseless Tragedy?, discussing this tragic event’s effect on Moral Relativism, and how 9/11 Shows the Value of Human Life. And Russell Moore does an absolutely outstanding job discussing The Gospel at Ground Zero for Christianity Today.

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Questioning Your Salvation?: The Effects of Sin

In the previous post in the series, we said that much of the confusion about whether or not a person is “saved” once they confess Christ comes from a problem rooted in the misunderstanding of man’s nature in relation to sin, moral ability, and the guilt of sin. In this blog, we’ll look at what happened at The Fall, when Adam and Eve sinned, and how that affects the rest of man throughout Scripture.

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Suffering, Hope, and God’s Sovereignty Over 9/11

Below is an excerpt from an article by John Starke of The Gospel Coalition. I would highly encourage you to read the whole thing. Reading articles like this is important because it shows us how God still sovereignly works throughout history to prepare His people to be a light toward those around them, even in the darkest of times.

The smell. That’s what everyone in New York City remembers from that horrible day 10 years ago.

“There was a strange smell hanging in the air, which was some strange putrid burnt chemical smell,” one resident remembers. “The air felt thick and unclean to breathe. The smell lasted for weeks.” Those in New York during the September 11 attacks all have vivid memories of watching the smoke-spewing towers, fleeing the chaos in Lower Manhattan, or fearing for friends and family who worked in the business district. But everyone I talked to remembers the smell.

“I remember the smoke from downtown, visible everywhere for days,” recalls Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. “And the stench, the unique smell that also lasted for days. You could smell it everywhere. No one asked what the smell came from. We didn’t want to know.”

Read the rest at The Gospel Coalition.

The Gospel and Politics – Part 2

In the last post of this three part series, we ended saying that The Great Commission is Jesus sending us out, under His authority as King, to advance His kingdom. To many people, this would still give a “We don’t belong here, so who cares” attitude. This line of thinking results in not really caring about what’s going on politically (and sometimes extends further than that). Or the other extreme, being so focused on our time here that they get side-tracked by much of the silliness of politics, business, etc. Neither of these views is appropriate for a Christian. Neither of these views is appropriate for one who is Kingdom focused.

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The Gospel and Politics – Part 1

Growing up in Dallas, I was your typical teenager – self-absorbed and ignorant of the world around me. As such, I never understood why politics were important. Before I really came to know Christ, politics just seemed like a bunch of people who can’t agree on anything arguing back and forth from now until the end of eternity. It was a giant circular argument that I didn’t want any part of. After I came to know Christ, it made even less sense. My mentality shifted from “These people will never get along” to “These people will never get along. But who cares?” If I’m going to Heaven when I die, who cares what happens here? Right? Wrong. I was, where I feel many people are. I only understood half of the gospel.

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