Ancestors’ Day approaches. In early April, many Chinese observe the Ching Ming Festival. They go to the cemetery with cleaning materials, traditional food dishes, joss sticks, and silver-leafed paper. Some carry willow branches. Of primary importance, they go as a family. They sweep the graves. Families set fruit and meat before the pictures of the family’s ancestors. They light joss sticks, and the fragrant aroma of incense accompanies an offering of heavy smoke. Family members kneel and pray before the tombs. Some people pray to their ancestors, while others express gratitude for their ancestors. Traditionalists burn silver-leafed paper, spirit money, to help their loved ones enjoy a good afterlife. The willow branches dispel troubling evil spirits who might do harm to the living family.
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Posted: March 24, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Worldview: Do You See What I See?
Ally watched a sermon video that addressed cultural differences between Western society today and the Near Eastern world of Jesus’ day. Then she asked, “Why did Jesus come and preach to Western civilization and not Eastern?” Ally’s question revealed her Western worldview. After all, she had lived all her life in the Western world. Her pastors and Bible teachers communicated biblical truth from a Western perspective.
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Posted: March 18, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
The Ancestors Question
Ancestors’ Day approaches. In early April, many Chinese observe the Ching Ming Festival. They go to the cemetery with cleaning materials, traditional food dishes, joss sticks, and silver-leafed paper. Some carry willow branches. Of primary importance, they go as a family. They sweep the graves. Families set fruit and meat before the pictures of the family’s ancestors. They light joss sticks, and the fragrant aroma of incense accompanies an offering of heavy smoke. Family members kneel and pray before the tombs. Some people pray to their ancestors, while others express gratitude for their ancestors. Traditionalists burn silver-leafed paper, spirit money, to help their loved ones enjoy a good afterlife. The willow branches dispel troubling evil spirits who might do harm to the living family.
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Posted: March 11, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Life-Changing Sermon Preparation
Preparing to preach life-changing sermons requires careful composition. Since life change requires work, we want to connect what we are saying with what God has said and what we want people to do. The people of God are “God’s workmanship,” which we could translate as “God’s poem.” (Ephesians 2:10). The art of preaching allows the Holy Spirit to shape the way we live out the poetry of God’s will (Hebrews 10:36). The preacher’s challenge is to plan and prepare life-changing sermons that engage daily life.
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Posted: March 10, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
The Four-Part Gospel
How does accepting Jesus Christ as Savior grow into discipleship? In N.T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope, he dares to question what he calls the “two-part gospel.” In so doing, he enlarges our understanding of the gospel.
The Two-Part Gospel
The “two-part gospel” addresses a limited view of personal salvation. That view includes:
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Posted: March 9, 2020 by Harry Lucenay
Ministry Starts with You
I interpreted what I thought God was saying to me as a call to the ministry. A few men had allowed me to preach for them when they were away from their churches. A semester internship for pastoral students in college introduced me to ministry. I thought I was ready to serve. One late August Sunday evening, I sat on the church steps twenty-five miles from home. I was hoping the people from a small congregation would call me as their pastor. I did not realize how limited my understanding of pastoral leadership was.