Posted on February 27th, 2007 by Jay Guin
When the evangelical right considers the issue of illegal immigration, it’s rare for someone to bring up the word of God as somehow relevant. Instead, we conservative, right-wing Christians tend to think very much like conservative, right-wing non-believers. Our views are rarely distinguishable from those of the Republican Party’s National Committee. For example, Jerry Falwell [...]
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Posted on February 26th, 2007 by Jay Guin
We’ve been studying Abraham at church, and we eventually found ourselves talking about Sodom and Gomorrah. Looking for some depth, beyond the obvious condemnation of homosexuality, I pulled out the trusty computerized concordance to see what else the Bible says about Sodom.
There are about 25 references to Sodom after the account of its destruction by [...]
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Posted on February 25th, 2007 by Jay Guin
Luke’s account of the first communion service is fascinating. Jesus first shares the cup and then the bread. They then eat supper, and then Jesus again shares the cup.
It has often bothered me that the cup was before the bread or else that they took a meal between the bread and the cup. (But it [...]
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Posted on February 24th, 2007 by Jay Guin
I think your child being baptized should be seen rather like your child joining the army. It’s a great honor. The child will be incredibly well-equipped and trained. He or she will mature rapidly. But he or she may also be taken overseas for years at time, suffer injuries, or even die in the service.
Just [...]
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Posted on February 24th, 2007 by Jay Guin
We recently had a three-generation baptism at church. A young girl, her father, and grandfather all descended together into the baptistry. The grandfather spoke movingly on the meaning of becoming a Christian–the commitment it involves–and the father baptized his daughter. It was simple and powerful.
One of the truly wonderful traditions our congregation has is allowing [...]
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Posted on February 24th, 2007 by Jay Guin
I just watched the movie. Loved it. How rare to find a movie where the heroes are politicians and (believe or not) a Latin-quoting lawyer–and they’re all Christians acting in faith!
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Posted on February 23rd, 2007 by Jay Guin
I’m deeply concerned about the state of youth ministry nowadays. As adult ministry is maturing from providing “goods and services” to the membership and instead being “missional,” I’m not seeing a comparable maturation of our youth ministries.
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Posted on February 20th, 2007 by Jay Guin
Over 4,000 years ago, more than 2,000 years before Jesus, Abraham fought a war to rescue Lot. Abraham recovered not only Lot and his family, but all the goods and food of Sodom and Gomorrah, two very wealthy cities. Melchizedek, a priest of the God Most High, blessed Abraham and shared a meal of unleavened [...]
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Posted on February 20th, 2007 by Jay Guin
Unleavened bread. Fruit of the vine. These made up an ordinary, common meal in the First Century. But they became extraordinary because they were touched by Jesus. Just so, we were once ordinary and common, but we’ve also been touched by the Savior–and so we’ve become extraordinary as well.
[Our Father in Heaven, as we share [...]
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Posted on February 19th, 2007 by Jay Guin
This is the last post on the instrumental music controversy. There are a couple more arguments made on the subject to be considered–Is it sin to take an action in the worship assembly that’s not authorized by a command, inference, or example? Going Beyond What Is Written
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Posted on February 18th, 2007 by Jay Guin
I’m planning on posting some thoughts on the Lord’s Supper, suitable for use as communion meditations. But first, a few thoughts on how to do the communion better.
The Lord’s Supper has always been important to the Churches of Christ. We take communion weekly. It’s so important to us that we often offer communion on Sunday [...]
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Posted on February 18th, 2007 by Jay Guin
The February 2007 issue of the Gospel Advocate includes an editorial by the owner and editor, Neil Anderson, commenting the decision by the Richland Hills Church of Christ to add an instrumental service. They will continue to offer two a cappella services.
Br. Anderson twice declares instrumental music in worship not only error, but “apostasy.”
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Posted on February 17th, 2007 by Jay Guin
It’s true that the early church sang a cappella. Does this make the instrument sinful? damnable? I don’t think so. Here’s why: The historical argument
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Posted on February 15th, 2007 by Jay Guin
I’m a lawyer. Worse yet, I’m a bond lawyer and tax lawyer. This means I have to read and interpret complex, tedious, mind-numbing regulations and statutes. I read and write 80-page, single-spaced document. I argue over commas, for crying out loud! I deeply and thoroughly understand what it means to be a legalist — I [...]
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Posted on February 15th, 2007 by Jay Guin
Amazing Grace, the movie, is the story of how William Wilberforce became a Christian and then worked to ban the English slave trade–quite literally changing the world as the British navy refused to allow slave trading by any nation. The preview is at http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/. The movie opens 2/23.
Of course, I’ve not yet seen the [...]
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Posted on February 14th, 2007 by Jay Guin
A short lesson on silence, childrearing, and the instrument. The Question of Silence
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Posted on February 11th, 2007 by Jay Guin
I wrote this book back in 1995. It’s still in print and available in a few bookstores, such as http://web.ovc.edu/bookstore/holysp.shtml. In fact, you can buy the book for less than the cost to print it. (The price of getting old is finding yourself in the bargain bin!)
The entire book can be downloaded for free [...]
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Posted on February 11th, 2007 by Jay Guin
Notes for the third class taught at the 2006 Harding Lectureship. Business Law for Church Leaders
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Posted on February 11th, 2007 by Jay Guin
These are notes for the second class delivered at the 2006 Harding Lectureship. Tax Guide for Church Leaders
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Posted on February 11th, 2007 by Jay Guin
I spoke at the 2006 Harding Lectureship as part of the elder track. Here are my notes from the first talk on business ethics for church leaders. Business Ethics for Church Leaders
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Jay Guin
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