If God Elects, Why Pray for the Unconverted? The answer to that question is not as direct as I could wish.Several statements bring us to a conclusion: We are commanded, encouraged, and privileged to pray – to make petitions of our God (I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray continually!” and other verses) We are told that prayer …
Public Prayer in our Public Worship Dr. Jerry Nelson www.soundliving.org It was over 30 years ago that Gordon MacDonald changed my understanding and practice on the subject of public prayer in worship (“The Cleansing Power of Public Prayer” in Leadership, Winter Quarter, 1987). Since then I have read a number of books and articles on …
The Public Reading of the Scriptures in WorshipDr. Jerry Nelsonwww.Soundliving.org What happened to the public reading of God’s Word in Worship? A visit to many “evangelical” churches will confirm how few give serious attention to this biblically mandated part of corporate worship. Maybe some would suggest that in a highly literate culture where most …
Hell: Eternal? Temporary? Figurative? Dr. Jerry Nelson Does the Bible teach that unbelievers will spend eternity in hell in conscious punishment? First, let’s get our terminology straight; what do we mean by “hell?” If we mean where unbelievers go after they die, we are correct but not as correct as we might think. Immediately after …
I recently read Ron Chernow’s massive biography of General/President U.S. Grant. It awakened in me a renewed sadness over how long it took for a significant percentage of our citizenry to acknowledge the evil of how Native Americans and African Americans have been treated. Thousands (yes, thousands) of our fellow-humans were murdered, while many more …
I am a pragmatist and thus cremation of the dead has seemed to me to be the sensible way to avoid the cost and sometimes macabre aspects of funerals. My mother, though well-schooled in the reality of decay and the theology of resurrection, said she wanted to be buried, not cremated, because she wanted Jesus …
“Compassion is not a snob gone slumming. Anybody can salve his conscience by (occasionally giving a dollar to a street beggar). Did you ever take a real trip down inside the broken heart of a friend? To feel the sob of the soul – the raw, red crucible of emotional agony? To have this become …