January 31, 2012
"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame our parents for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. With the assurance of total forgiveness through Christ, we have no reason to hide from our sins anymore."...
January 6, 2012
I'm at a season of life where it seems like it's time to slow down. Nothing is working quite right anymore. I need glasses for aging eyes and anti-inflammtories for aging joints. I forget names and what commonly used household gadgets are called. Solitude invites me to steal away (which I enjoy doing at times!) while a growing family and new church lovingly require me to get even busier than ever. The commercials say Benny and I should be anticipating retirement after all the years of being in the throes of parenting and pastoring. Sometimes I envy those who can....
December 16, 2014 | Category: Cultural Values | Tags: torture, situational ethics, ethics, morality, Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, Orlando Church, Lake Nona Churches, lee vista, lee vista church, cultural values, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, Gospel-centeredness, cultural issues, church blog, Redeemer Church of Lake Nona, cultural engagement, Redeemer Lake Nona, Redeemer Church at Lake Nona, government
This past week, Senate Democrats released a 6,000 page report about CIA tactics in the post-9/11 but pre-Obama world. It is colloquially known as the “torture report,†although it centers around what the CIA called “enhanced interrogation techniques,†which were approved by the Bush administration, funded by Congress, and considered legal by various...
Keep ReadingNovember 4, 2014 by Jesse Phillips | Category: Cultural Values | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, Redeemer Church at Lake Nona, elections, politics, voting, government, constitution, Romans 13, 1 Peter 2
How we contextualize Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 within the United States' governmental structure? What does it mean to honor the governing authorities if the government under which we live is a government "of the people, by the people, for the people"? Jesse Phillips argues the answer is to locate the supreme authority within a governmental structure, and to apply the command...
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