Blog Archives
Inspiring Lives From Church History
People have been living and dying for Christ for over 2000 years and history is full of wonderful examples of men and women who followed Christ faithfully. We can learn a lot from studying their lives. Yet, there is something truly compelling about those who suffer for Him and pay the ultimate price for their faith.
When I read the historical record of what some of these ancient brothers and sisters went through, it challenges me deeply. I often wonder how I would respond in such situations. I guess we won’t ever know unless and until we find ourselves in the same place. The one thing I can say with certainty is that these accounts inspire me to live for Christ. That is why today, we are beginning a new series. In it, we will highlight men and women who suffered for Christ, because of their faith. They won’t be long posts, so you should be able to read them in less than 5 minutes. My Prayer is that they will cause you to reflect on your own life and faith, inspiring you follow Him more deeply.
Today, we will read about Mark, the Bishop of Arethusa (361 AD)
Mark, Bishop of Arethusa, suffered for his faith in Christ under the emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363). By order of the emperor Constantine, St Mark had once destroyed a pagan temple and built a Christian church.
When Julian came to the throne, he persecuted Christians and tried to Read the rest of this entry
Holy Week Prayers: Saturday
Holy Saturday:
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on his holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Were You There? I Was
I came across this sermon back in the early 90’s. Each month, Preaching Today send me a tape of an exceptional sermon. When I put this one in the old tape deck and started listening, I was immediately drawn into the story of Jesus on the way to the cross and Simon of Cyrene. By the end of the message, I had been reduced to a weeping young pastor marveling at the scene of The Cross.Were You There?
| With emotional brush strokes of dramatic narrative, Dr. Marshall’s gripping account of Simon of Cyrene meeting Jesus on His way to the Crucifixion puts the listener at the very foot of the Cross. After experiencing this message, there is no longer any doubt about the answer to that famous question: We were all there. (Preached on March 9, 1944) |
Whatever Happened To This Message of The Cross
In honor of Good Friday, we are re-posting the very first article published at Not For Itching Ears…
The sign said, “Now serving Starbucks coffee!”
It was the late 90’s and the premium coffee craze was taking the country by storm. Everyone who liked coffee LOVED Starbucks or soon would. So it wasn’t surprising that some business would be utilizing the brand name to promote what they were doing. It made pretty good sense. It would not have fazed me a single bit if any other company was doing it. However, this massive sign was hung in front of a local evangelical Christian church. The message was crystal clear: “Come to our service on Sunday, we have free Starbucks coffee!”
With the arrival of the church growth movement and the seeker-sensitive ministry focus it birthed.. Read the rest of this entry
Holy Week Prayer: Good Friday
Good Friday Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Holy Week Prayers: Maudy Thursday
“Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
Holy Week Prayer: Wednesday
Wednesday in Holy Week Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Must Read Book For Worship Leaders and Pastors: Discover The Mystery of Faith
NotForItchingEars.com was born out of my utter frustration with, and sincere love for, the evangelical church. Having visited congregation after congregation and reading many studies, I knew something was wrong.
I spent a considerable amount of time pleading with the pastors and leaders of the church at large to come back to the ancient path. I challenged many worship leaders to re-think the worship services they led.
The response of many in the worship leading community was less than enthusiastic. Most people just wanted me to Read the rest of this entry
Christian Bloggers of the World…We Need Your Help!
I have a hunch, a hypothesis, a gut feeling. That is, that singing in church is not as important to most of us who attend regularly. We don’t dislike singing, and are not theologically opposed to it. However, most of us, I propose, don’t give it as much weight as our worship leaders or senior leadership do.
That has been what I have observed in congregation after congregation that I have visited in the past 4 years. These polls are an unscientific way of trying to get a more objective view. The answers to some of these polls has been rather eye-opening, and seem to confirm my gut feelings. I will be spending time writing about what I have learned as a result in the not too distant future.
I need more answers to these questions, and so I am putting a link to our polls in this post. Please feel free to use them in your own blog posts. The results are available for all to see, and you can use the gathered information for any observations you would like to make. The more votes we get, the better understanding we will have.
So here are the links:
What Are the Two LEAST Important Elements of Corporate Worship for YOU Personally? http://poll.fm/45vog
Do You Think We Spend Too Much Time Singing In Church? http://poll.fm/45rag
What Would You Do If Your Church Eliminated Singing from the Service? http://poll.fm/31app
What is the Most Important Element of Corporate Worship for You Personally? http://poll.fm/2hazg
What one thing would you like to see changed in the American Church? http://poll.fm/2ga0u
Looking for a Cross-centered, Gospel drenched Song for Corporate Communion? Try this…
Looking for a cross-centered, gospel rich song to be used during communion?
Consider using a song I discovered a few years ago. It is called “The Gospel Song”, written by Drew Jones and Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries. It is one of the simplest, most concise wording of the gospel in song form that I know of. Let us know if you like it by taking the poll or leaving a comment.
The Gospel Song
Holy God, in love became
Perfect man to bear my blame
On the cross He took my sin
By His death I live again
The Gospel Song
You can find a free guitar chord chart by following this link to Sovereign Grace Ministries.
Dead People Speak To Me
Dead people speak to me. It’s true, they really do!
Don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that the dead visit me in my sleep, or that I hear voices in my head. I am talking about the writings of the early church leaders, those great men of God who passed from this earth 1700-1900 years ago. Their writings speak volumes to me about what it means to Read the rest of this entry
Making Room for God in Your Life
Merry Christmas everyone!
Not being catholic, I seldom read what the Pope has to say. But this year I actually read his Christmas eve sermon. I was moved by his words and challenged in my own life and faith. I have posted it here. I hope my protestant friends can read it and Read the rest of this entry
A Christmas Prayer for All
The following prayer is from the largely forgotten deposit of the Puritan Movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They testify to the richness and color of evangelical thought and language, as well as their devotion to the Savior. They can be found in a book titled “The Valley of Vision”, by Arthur Bennet. I have included them in this blog so that others can use them in their own prayer life as a springboard to a more faithful walk with Jesus. These prayers are 200-400 years old! They were written in old English, but that should not get in the way if you don’t let it.
Following Him together…
Read the rest of this entry
God’s Christmas Gift to Humanity
Merry Christmas
“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek
him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church.
To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.”
May you receive Him with open arms! Merry Christmas everyone.
A Christmas Prayer of Praise
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
all creation worships you,
the Father everlasting.
To You, all angels,
all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all praise,
the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come to be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.
And Behold, A New Blog Was….Born
The other day, while shopping, my wife found the perfect t-shirt for me. It said:
“Nobody Cares About Your Blog!”
Unfortunately it was the wrong size, plus it was pink! However, I interpreted that to mean that what the world really needs is one more blog and that I should start it.
Not being one who takes my responsibility to serve mankind lightly, I have started, and now made public, a New blog called “Following Him Together” It is a pastoral/devotional type of blog, that will focus more on the journey of the Christian life than on the problems of the evangelical church, which I have now solved.
Be one of the first 10,000 to subscribe to it and you could “Win a brand new car!” Not really. Visit it here: Following Him Together.
Not For Itching Ears 