Worship
John Wade used to tell the story of a man who lost his sense of being close to God. He made a pilgrimage to Mt Sinai and stood on the mountainside, while asking God to send him a sign. He was waiting for something spectacular like lightning, smoke or a mighty voice. He waited for hours on his knees and nothing happened. On the verge of giving up, he looked toward the ground and saw a small violet that had just come into bloom. He remembered that the day he left his daughter had given him a handful of violets taken from the many that grew at his door. Then the idea came to him that God was close to him as the violet and he did not need to make along pilgrimage to find him. Do you feel far from God? He may be closer than you think.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Overcoming: Making Peace with Your Past
Overcoming: Making Peace with Your Past
In the early 1970's, the Carpenters dominated on the pop music charts. With top ten songs like We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, Top of the World, and their mega-hit Close to You, Karen and her brother Richard produced an amazing fourteen Gold records. In the process they also won an Oscar and three Grammy awards. Blessed with a voice as pretty as sunshine, Karen Carpenter could have dominated the music scene for years to come.
Yet behind the bright lights of popularity, a dark enemy loomed. Karen Carpenter was starving herself to death because of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Later she claimed her anorexia began after a music reviewer called her "Richard's chubby little sister." Little did the reviewer know that from the time she was a young girl, Karen battled self-esteem and weight problems. Though she became a music superstar, Karen could not shake her adolescent and childhood insecurities. The coroner's report stated that Karen died of a heart attack brought on by anorexia, but Karen Carpenter died, in part, because she was unable to make peace with her past.1
In the 1980's, Rosanne Barr became a household name. The star of a hit television sitcom, she also regularly appeared on the covers of the tabloids because of her outrageous antics. A television movie chronicled her life and rise to stardom. The movie portrayed a different side of Rosanne. Rather than the uncouth, rough comedian we are so familiar with, America came to know a woman trying to come to grips with her childhood memories of sexual abuse. Could it be that Rosanne's crude public outbursts are in part the result of great pain she carries from her past?
Like Karen and Rosanne, we all have a past -- a past which we can neither escape nor change. A past filled with memories so powerful that their recall often brings pain to the present. Our stomach knots up. Feelings of inferiority arise. Long forgotten fears once again grab a choke hold on our life. The entire field of psychology is based on the premise that the past affects our present life. If true, it is essential that we learn how to make peace with our past.
Joseph, son of Jacob, overcame a painful past. He was raised in what we would call a "dysfunctional family." Sibling rivalry filled Jacob's household. Favoritism abounded. Hatred was a regular dish served on the family menu. One day, Joseph's brothers caught him, threw him into a pit, and discussed killing him. One brother intervened and convinced the rest instead to sell Egypt, Joseph became the property of a man named Potiphar. Potiphar's wife had eyes for Joseph, though, and made continual sexual advances toward him. Frustrated by Joseph's refusal, she falsely charged him with attempted rape and he was imprisoned.
While imprisoned, Joseph made friends with a baker and a cupbearer. Each promised to pull their political strings and secure Joseph's release, if and when they were freed. In time, the baker was hanged. The cupbearer was freed, but suffered a case of amnesia when it came to Joseph. For two more years, Joseph's mailing address was an Egyptian prison.
In the early 1970's, the Carpenters dominated on the pop music charts. With top ten songs like We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, Top of the World, and their mega-hit Close to You, Karen and her brother Richard produced an amazing fourteen Gold records. In the process they also won an Oscar and three Grammy awards. Blessed with a voice as pretty as sunshine, Karen Carpenter could have dominated the music scene for years to come.
Yet behind the bright lights of popularity, a dark enemy loomed. Karen Carpenter was starving herself to death because of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Later she claimed her anorexia began after a music reviewer called her "Richard's chubby little sister." Little did the reviewer know that from the time she was a young girl, Karen battled self-esteem and weight problems. Though she became a music superstar, Karen could not shake her adolescent and childhood insecurities. The coroner's report stated that Karen died of a heart attack brought on by anorexia, but Karen Carpenter died, in part, because she was unable to make peace with her past.1
In the 1980's, Rosanne Barr became a household name. The star of a hit television sitcom, she also regularly appeared on the covers of the tabloids because of her outrageous antics. A television movie chronicled her life and rise to stardom. The movie portrayed a different side of Rosanne. Rather than the uncouth, rough comedian we are so familiar with, America came to know a woman trying to come to grips with her childhood memories of sexual abuse. Could it be that Rosanne's crude public outbursts are in part the result of great pain she carries from her past?
Like Karen and Rosanne, we all have a past -- a past which we can neither escape nor change. A past filled with memories so powerful that their recall often brings pain to the present. Our stomach knots up. Feelings of inferiority arise. Long forgotten fears once again grab a choke hold on our life. The entire field of psychology is based on the premise that the past affects our present life. If true, it is essential that we learn how to make peace with our past.
Joseph, son of Jacob, overcame a painful past. He was raised in what we would call a "dysfunctional family." Sibling rivalry filled Jacob's household. Favoritism abounded. Hatred was a regular dish served on the family menu. One day, Joseph's brothers caught him, threw him into a pit, and discussed killing him. One brother intervened and convinced the rest instead to sell Egypt, Joseph became the property of a man named Potiphar. Potiphar's wife had eyes for Joseph, though, and made continual sexual advances toward him. Frustrated by Joseph's refusal, she falsely charged him with attempted rape and he was imprisoned.
While imprisoned, Joseph made friends with a baker and a cupbearer. Each promised to pull their political strings and secure Joseph's release, if and when they were freed. In time, the baker was hanged. The cupbearer was freed, but suffered a case of amnesia when it came to Joseph. For two more years, Joseph's mailing address was an Egyptian prison.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The Sound of Grace [ 6]
The Sound Of Grace...
Verse 21, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”
Verse 23, “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Verse 26, “Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.”
Verse 27, “Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
How dare some churches say that homosexuality is okay when God is it is an abomination? But the grace of God teaches us to say “No” to these things. Not “Maybe,” not “Later,” not “Let me think about it,” but “No.” In one of his sermons, Robert Smith says that the devil wants you just to dance a little dance with him. I dream of the day when our “yes” will be “yes” and our “no” will be an emphatic “no.” Not being apologetic for what we believe.
We all like the rescue of grace, but how do we do in the school of grace? Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. . . . Costly grace calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
What else does grace teach us? “To live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” In his book Paul and the Law, Frank Thielman writes, “Paul can even say that a primary result of salvation is that people might ‘live sober, righteous and pious lives in this present time.’”
Verse 21, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”
Verse 23, “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Verse 26, “Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.”
Verse 27, “Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
How dare some churches say that homosexuality is okay when God is it is an abomination? But the grace of God teaches us to say “No” to these things. Not “Maybe,” not “Later,” not “Let me think about it,” but “No.” In one of his sermons, Robert Smith says that the devil wants you just to dance a little dance with him. I dream of the day when our “yes” will be “yes” and our “no” will be an emphatic “no.” Not being apologetic for what we believe.
We all like the rescue of grace, but how do we do in the school of grace? Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. . . . Costly grace calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
What else does grace teach us? “To live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” In his book Paul and the Law, Frank Thielman writes, “Paul can even say that a primary result of salvation is that people might ‘live sober, righteous and pious lives in this present time.’”
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Sound of Grace [ page 7]
The Sound Of Grace...Continued from page 6
What would Jesus say to us today? Might he say, “I was naked, and you questioned my lack of modesty. I was in jail, and you debated the legal aspects of my case. I was poor, and you discussed if your donations are tax-deductible. I was sick, and you thanked God for your health. I was hungry and you formed a club that studies malnutrition. I didn’t have a home, but you said that the love of God would cover me. I was alone, and you left me alone while you prayed with your friends. You seemed so holy and so close to God, while I am still sick, alone, and afraid.”
If you have received the rescue of grace, but have been unfaithful as to the requirements of grace, and you have not lived your life in a godly way . . .
The rescue of grace: “Neither do I condemn you.”
The requirements of grace: “Go, and sin no more.”
Max Lucado writes, “The woman turns and walks away into anonymity. She’s never seen or heard from again. But we can be confident of one thing: On that morning in Jerusalem, she saw Jesus and Jesus saw her. And if we could somehow transport her to Calvary and let her stand at the base of the cross . . . you know what she would say. ‘That’s him,’ she would whisper. ‘That’s him.’ She would recognize his hands. The only hands that had held no stones that day were his. And on this day they still hold no stones. She would recognize his voice. It’s raspier and weaker, but the words are the same, ‘Father, forgive them . . .’”
And she would recognize his feet. On that day in Jerusalem they were dusty, but now the dust was mingled with blood.
“And she would recognize his eyes. How could she ever forget those eyes? Clear and tear-filled. Eyes that saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be.”
Like Mephiboshet and like the woman caught in adultery, we have experienced grace. Now, let us learn from grace to go and sin no more
What would Jesus say to us today? Might he say, “I was naked, and you questioned my lack of modesty. I was in jail, and you debated the legal aspects of my case. I was poor, and you discussed if your donations are tax-deductible. I was sick, and you thanked God for your health. I was hungry and you formed a club that studies malnutrition. I didn’t have a home, but you said that the love of God would cover me. I was alone, and you left me alone while you prayed with your friends. You seemed so holy and so close to God, while I am still sick, alone, and afraid.”
If you have received the rescue of grace, but have been unfaithful as to the requirements of grace, and you have not lived your life in a godly way . . .
The rescue of grace: “Neither do I condemn you.”
The requirements of grace: “Go, and sin no more.”
Max Lucado writes, “The woman turns and walks away into anonymity. She’s never seen or heard from again. But we can be confident of one thing: On that morning in Jerusalem, she saw Jesus and Jesus saw her. And if we could somehow transport her to Calvary and let her stand at the base of the cross . . . you know what she would say. ‘That’s him,’ she would whisper. ‘That’s him.’ She would recognize his hands. The only hands that had held no stones that day were his. And on this day they still hold no stones. She would recognize his voice. It’s raspier and weaker, but the words are the same, ‘Father, forgive them . . .’”
And she would recognize his feet. On that day in Jerusalem they were dusty, but now the dust was mingled with blood.
“And she would recognize his eyes. How could she ever forget those eyes? Clear and tear-filled. Eyes that saw her not as she was, but as she was intended to be.”
Like Mephiboshet and like the woman caught in adultery, we have experienced grace. Now, let us learn from grace to go and sin no more
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sound of Grace [page 5]
The Sound Of Grace ...Continued from page 4
We all like the rescue of grace, but how do we do in the school of grace? Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. . . . Costly grace calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
What else does grace teach us? “To live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” In his book Paul and the Law, Frank Thielman writes, “Paul can even say that a primary result of salvation is that people might ‘live sober, righteous and pious lives in this present time.’”
A lot of us long for the “good ol’ days.” I too would have loved to live in Mayberry. To get a haircut at Floyd’s barbershop, to eat one of Aunt Bee’s dinners, to spend some time with Andy the sheriff and his sidekick Barney Fife, and to slap Otis around and tell him to get a life and quit getting drunk. But we are not asked to live yesterday, we are asked to live godly lives TODAY, and not in Mayberry, but in our towns and villages.
And we are not just to live holy lives in an unholy world, but we are to “wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Our waiting is not to be a passive one, but an active one, a time when we do good to those around us and in this way they will be able to experience the love of God and his wonderful grace. Verse 15 says that we are to be “eager to do what is good.” I like the NASB here, which says that grace teaches us to be zealous for good deeds. The apostle Paul believes that this is so important that three times in his letter he mentions the fact that Christians need to be eager to do good works. Our wait for Christ’s second coming cannot be a passive one, but needs to be an active one. We have to get rid of the “What’s in it for me” mentality and ask ourselves, “What can I do to help the ones who are less fortunate than me.”
In Matthew 25 Jesus said: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
We all like the rescue of grace, but how do we do in the school of grace? Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. . . . Costly grace calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
What else does grace teach us? “To live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” In his book Paul and the Law, Frank Thielman writes, “Paul can even say that a primary result of salvation is that people might ‘live sober, righteous and pious lives in this present time.’”
A lot of us long for the “good ol’ days.” I too would have loved to live in Mayberry. To get a haircut at Floyd’s barbershop, to eat one of Aunt Bee’s dinners, to spend some time with Andy the sheriff and his sidekick Barney Fife, and to slap Otis around and tell him to get a life and quit getting drunk. But we are not asked to live yesterday, we are asked to live godly lives TODAY, and not in Mayberry, but in our towns and villages.
And we are not just to live holy lives in an unholy world, but we are to “wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Our waiting is not to be a passive one, but an active one, a time when we do good to those around us and in this way they will be able to experience the love of God and his wonderful grace. Verse 15 says that we are to be “eager to do what is good.” I like the NASB here, which says that grace teaches us to be zealous for good deeds. The apostle Paul believes that this is so important that three times in his letter he mentions the fact that Christians need to be eager to do good works. Our wait for Christ’s second coming cannot be a passive one, but needs to be an active one. We have to get rid of the “What’s in it for me” mentality and ask ourselves, “What can I do to help the ones who are less fortunate than me.”
In Matthew 25 Jesus said: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Sound of Grace [page 4]
The Sound Of Grace ...Continued from page 3
If anyone had the right to throw stones at us it was God. But he didn’t. He forgave us through the death and physical resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. Aren’t you glad that God gave us grace? Do you want to hear the sound of grace? (Let the stones drop to the ground one by one) That is the sound of grace.
It wasn’t the grace of the teachers of the law, and it wasn’t the grace of the Pharisees. It was the grace of Jesus. John Newton was right: “ ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.”
“Neither do I condemn you,” is only the first part; that is the rescue of grace. The second part is “Go and sin no more.” And that is our requirement of grace.
The Requirements of Grace (verses 12-13)
It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions (lusts ? would be a better translation here), and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope ? the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is our “Go and sin no more” charge. Grace not only saves us, but it also teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. Paul uses this word in Romans 1:18. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” And then Paul goes on to define what ungodliness is:
Verse 21, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”
Verse 23, “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Verse 26, “Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.”
Verse 27, “Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
How dare some churches say that homosexuality is okay when God is it is an abomination? But the grace of God teaches us to say “No” to these things. Not “Maybe,” not “Later,” not “Let me think about it,” but “No.” In one of his sermons, Robert Smith says that the devil wants you just to dance a little dance with him. I dream of the day when our “yes” will be “yes” and our “no” will be an emphatic “no.” Not being apologetic for what we believe.
If anyone had the right to throw stones at us it was God. But he didn’t. He forgave us through the death and physical resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. Aren’t you glad that God gave us grace? Do you want to hear the sound of grace? (Let the stones drop to the ground one by one) That is the sound of grace.
It wasn’t the grace of the teachers of the law, and it wasn’t the grace of the Pharisees. It was the grace of Jesus. John Newton was right: “ ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.”
“Neither do I condemn you,” is only the first part; that is the rescue of grace. The second part is “Go and sin no more.” And that is our requirement of grace.
The Requirements of Grace (verses 12-13)
It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions (lusts ? would be a better translation here), and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope ? the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is our “Go and sin no more” charge. Grace not only saves us, but it also teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. Paul uses this word in Romans 1:18. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” And then Paul goes on to define what ungodliness is:
Verse 21, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.”
Verse 23, “They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
Verse 26, “Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.”
Verse 27, “Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
How dare some churches say that homosexuality is okay when God is it is an abomination? But the grace of God teaches us to say “No” to these things. Not “Maybe,” not “Later,” not “Let me think about it,” but “No.” In one of his sermons, Robert Smith says that the devil wants you just to dance a little dance with him. I dream of the day when our “yes” will be “yes” and our “no” will be an emphatic “no.” Not being apologetic for what we believe.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Sound of Grace [page 3]
The Sound Of Grace ...Continued from page 2
And now let me illustrate God’s grace with another true story from the New Testament. You know the story of the woman caught in adultery of John 8:1-11. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. And to make this more dramatic, they do this when Jesus is at the temple. “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, the JEDP historian ? oh, I’m sorry, it doesn’t say the JEDP historian ? it says, “Moses commanded us to stone, such women. Now what do you say?” Good question, but John tells us that their motives were marred by their shady spirituality. The Bible tells us that “They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” And then he says, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first one to throw a stone at her.” And you know the rest of the story. “They began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.”
In his book Six Hours One Friday, Max Lucado writes, “Jesus told the woman to look up. ‘Is there no one to condemn you?’ He smiled as she raised her head. She saw no one, only rocks ? each one a miniature tombstone to mark the burial place of a man’s arrogance. Maybe she expected him to scold her. Perhaps she expected him to walk away from her. I’m not sure, but I do know this: What she got, she never expected. She got a promise and a commission. The promise: ‘Neither do I condemn you.’ The commission: ‘Go and sin no more.’”
The Greek text of John says something puzzling. “Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” In the midst of what? In the midst of the stones that were earlier aimed at her. When I was in Israel this past January I got some rocks from the Temple mount. (Showing stones, one by one, continue.)
The stone of criticism. A small stone, but you can palm it, you can put it in your purse, you can put it in your shirt pocket even as you come to church. It can be lethal. “The song was too high . . . the sermon was too long . . .”
The stone of bitterness. This one has several layers. Someone who cannot forgive, someone who cannot forget, gathers these types of stones.
The unnamed stone. You name it: legalism, liberalism, self-righteousness, racism . . . you name it. Have you ever been hit with such a stone? Have you ever thrown such a stone?
And now let me illustrate God’s grace with another true story from the New Testament. You know the story of the woman caught in adultery of John 8:1-11. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. And to make this more dramatic, they do this when Jesus is at the temple. “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, the JEDP historian ? oh, I’m sorry, it doesn’t say the JEDP historian ? it says, “Moses commanded us to stone, such women. Now what do you say?” Good question, but John tells us that their motives were marred by their shady spirituality. The Bible tells us that “They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.” And then he says, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first one to throw a stone at her.” And you know the rest of the story. “They began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.”
In his book Six Hours One Friday, Max Lucado writes, “Jesus told the woman to look up. ‘Is there no one to condemn you?’ He smiled as she raised her head. She saw no one, only rocks ? each one a miniature tombstone to mark the burial place of a man’s arrogance. Maybe she expected him to scold her. Perhaps she expected him to walk away from her. I’m not sure, but I do know this: What she got, she never expected. She got a promise and a commission. The promise: ‘Neither do I condemn you.’ The commission: ‘Go and sin no more.’”
The Greek text of John says something puzzling. “Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” In the midst of what? In the midst of the stones that were earlier aimed at her. When I was in Israel this past January I got some rocks from the Temple mount. (Showing stones, one by one, continue.)
The stone of criticism. A small stone, but you can palm it, you can put it in your purse, you can put it in your shirt pocket even as you come to church. It can be lethal. “The song was too high . . . the sermon was too long . . .”
The stone of bitterness. This one has several layers. Someone who cannot forgive, someone who cannot forget, gathers these types of stones.
The unnamed stone. You name it: legalism, liberalism, self-righteousness, racism . . . you name it. Have you ever been hit with such a stone? Have you ever thrown such a stone?
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