February11th
by Krista Graham, Special to The Sacred Sandwich
Once there was a man named Philippe. He was a spiritual guide in an emerging community. One day he decided to go on a journey. So, he did. As he was walking along the road, focusing on the journey and not the destination, he found himself alongside the chariot of an African official. The man in the chariot was reading from a parchment scroll. He was reading aloud, so Philippe was able to overhear what the man read. Read More | Comments
March25th
Synopsis: The full armor of God is not just a plastic toy costume for children to learn biblical truth. Its meaning is much more profound as an identifying mark of the Church in the midst of spiritual battle. But when we water-down the Gospel, undermine the Scriptures, or try to minister in our own power, then we have abandoned parts of God’s armor and lost our standing as the Body of Christ.
I am immensely grieved when I see the extent in which many Christian churches today, especially in America, have decided that their strength lies in making themselves more appealing to the world. The popular Christian leaders of the day exemplify this attitude when they soften their public rhetoric, not out of a proper sense of meekness, but to purposely veil the hard truths of Jesus Christ because they know that proclaiming these truths will lessen their stature in the eyes of the world. In some ways, these Christian appeasers are like a town sheriff in the Old West who throws off his gun belt so that everyone will like him, only to find the criminals taking advantage of his kindness and ransacking the town that he swore to protect. Read More | Comments
March9th
This Sunday Pastor Gragg at Heritage Baptist Church pointed out the wonderful focus of God’s character in the hymn, “Be Thou My Vision.” What an amazing resource for worship packed into these five small stanzas! In line after line of this beautiful and poignant Irish song, we were praising our great Triune God in unified voice and meditating on some of the many poetic things He is to each and every Christian. Just look at these brilliant facets of God, our Jewel, as described by the hymn:
My Vision
Lord of My Heart
My Best Thought
My Light
My Wisdom
My True Word
My Great Father
My Battle Shield
Sword for the Fight
My Dignity
My Delight
My Soul’s Shelter
My High Tower
Power of my power
Mine Inheritance
First in my heart
High King of Heaven
My Treasure
Bright Heaven’s Sun
Heart of my own heart
Ruler of all!
I found the lyrics of this hymn of great benefit to my soul and would encourage all believers to always find time to meditate on our God’s divine and praiseworthy attributes, especially during times of Bible study, prayer, and worship. For a more complete list of the many biblical names of Jesus Christ for the purpose of further meditation and worship, I recommend this online resource.
I would love to hear from my brothers and sisters in Christ on this topic as well. Tell me, do you have a favorite praiseworthy name for our Lord from Scripture or a testimony of His biblical Character that would help us bring glory to God this day?
February20th
Dear Christianity Today:
In response to Paul D. Apostle’s article about the Galatian church in your January issue, I have to say how appalled I am by the unchristian tone of this hit piece. Why the negativity? Has he been to the Galatian church recently? I happen to know some of the people at that church, and they are the most loving, caring people I’ve ever met.
Phyllis Snodgrass; Ann Arbor, MI
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Dear Editor:
How arrogant of Mr. Apostle to think he has the right to judge these people and label them accursed. Isn’t that God’s job? Regardless of this circumcision issue, these Galatians believe in Jesus just as much as he does, and it is very Pharisaical to condemn them just because they differ on such a secondary issue. Personally, I don’t want a sharp instrument anywhere near my zipper, but that doesn’t give me the right to judge how someone else follows Christ. Can’t we just focus on our common commitment to Christ and furthering His kingdom, instead of tearing down fellow believers over petty doctrinal matters?
Ed Bilgeway; Tonganoxie, KS
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Dear CT:
I’ve seen other dubious articles by Paul Apostle in the past, and frankly I’m surprised you felt that his recurrent criticisms of the Church deserved to be printed in your magazine. Mr. Apostle for many years now has had a penchant for thinking he has a right to “mark” certain Christian teachers who don’t agree with his biblical position. Certainly I commend him for desiring to stay faithful to God’s word, but I think he errs in being so dogmatic about his views to the point where he feels free to openly attack his brethren. His attitude makes it difficult to fully unify the Church, and gives credence to the opposition’s view that Christians are judgmental, arrogant people who never show God’s love.
Ken Groener; San Diego, CA
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To the Editors:
Paul Apostle says that he hopes the Galatian teachers will cut off their own privates? What kind of Christian attitude is that? Shame on him!
Martha Bobbitt; Boulder, CO
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Dear Christianity Today:
The fact that Paul Apostle brags about his public run-in with Peter Cephas, a well-respected leader and brother in Christ, exposes Mr. Apostle for the divisive figure that he has become in the Church today. His diatribe against the Galatian church is just more of the same misguided focus on an antiquated reliance on doctrine instead of love and tolerance. Just look how his hypercritical attitude has cast aspersions on homosexual believers and women elders! The real problem within the Church today is not the lack of doctrinal devotion, as Apostle seems to believe, but in our inability to be transformed by our individual journeys in the Spirit. Evidently, Apostle has failed to detach himself from his legalistic background as a Pharisee, and is unable to let go and experience the genuine love for Christ that is coming from the Galatians who strive to worship God in their own special way.
William Zenby; Richmond, VA
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Kind Editors:
I happen to be a member of First Christian Church of Galatia, and I take issue with Mr. Apostle’s article. How can he criticize a ministry that has been so blessed by God? Our church has baptized many new members and has made huge in-roads in the Jewish community with our pragmatic view on circumcision. Such a “seeker-sensitive” approach has given the Jews the respect they deserve for being God’s chosen people for thousands of years. In addition, every Gentile in our midst has felt honored to engage in the many edifying rituals of the Hebrew heritage, including circumcision, without losing their passion for Jesus. My advice to Mr. Apostle is to stick to spreading the gospel message of Christ’s unconditional love, and quit criticizing what God is clearly blessing in other churches.
Miriam “Betty” Ben-Hur; Galatia, Turkey
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Christianity Today apologizes for our rash decision in publishing Paul Apostle’s exposé of the Galatian church. Had we known the extent in which our readership and advertisers would withdraw their financial support, we never would have printed such unpopular biblical truth. We regret any damage we may have caused in propagating the doctrines of Christ.
December19th
Sandwich readers might be interested to know that the recent League News “folktale” titled, Bible Up! The Legacy of Brother C.J. Arbuckle, was inspired by the true life story of my great-great-great uncle, Constant Joseph Carmichael. Uncle Constant Joseph was a Baptist preacher/church planter who lived in the 1800s. Like many Americans of his day, he was involved with the westward expansion of the United States around the time of the Civil War and experienced many hardships as he farmed, raised a family, and served the Lord.
In 1919 during the latter part of his life, Constant Joseph was asked by his family to write a autobiography so that generations to come could have an account of important family history, gain some insight into 19th century America, and have the testimony of a faithful man of God who try to tell the story of the Cross and of Christ crucified for over 50 years in eleven states of the Union.
Although some of C.J.’s life story involves specific Carmichael history, the great majority of it is really a declaration of his life as a disciple of Christ during a turbulent time in American history. Because of this, I thought that Christians outside the Carmichael family might be edified and encouraged by the testimony of a brother who came before them and tried to lay a foundation for heralding the Gospel for generations to come.
If you’re interested, you’ll find C.J.’s story HERE. (And in case you were wondering, this is not satire. It’s the real deal.)
