Authority–Man’s Word < God’s Word

Kirk E. Miller 2 Comments

Preface

On Sunday, August 26th, my pastor preached an excellent sermon from Matthew 15:1-9 at Lake Drive. The question he posed was, “What hold’s authority for the Christian?”  The topic of the sermon was God’s word and man’s word—that is, God’s truth, His teaching, His commandments versus man’s teaching, man’s instruction, or man’s tradition. Allow me to share with you some thoughts I had or that pastor Curt Leonard brought out in his message.

Introduction

God’s word is authoritative. It is perfect, it is true, and it is binding. As such it is the believer’s ultimate authority of faith (what to believe) and practice (what to do; how to live). A parallel truth to this fact is that God’s word is sufficient to instruct us on how to live godly lives in our present age or generation, which implies the concept of making direct applications of its truth to our contemporary setting.

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“Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions” by David Platt

Kirk E. Miller 3 Comments

This past Spring I was privileged to be able to go the 2012 Together for the [Underestimated] Gospel conference. I heard various well-known speakers such as John Piper, Al Mohler, C.J. Mahanney, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, etc. But my favorite sermon was “Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions” by David Platt, based out of Revelation 5, delivered on Wednesday, April 11th.

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Training Wheels and “Check-Engine” Lights

Kirk E. Miller 3 Comments

Colossians 2:20-23 – If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Partiality (James 2:1-13)

Kirk E. Miller

The following is an adult Sunday School lesson based out of James 2:1-13 that I taught at my church, Lake Drive Baptist Church, in Milwaukee, WI on July 22th, 2012.

Podcast link.

Download outline.

“Do it Again!”–Chesterton and Psalm 104

Kirk E. Miller

As of today I have not read G.K. Chesterton‘s book Orthodoxy. In fact, I have never actually read any full piece written by the man. (I suppose he has not made it near the top of my “most urgent to read” list; however, most books and authors don’t). But, in my opinion, Chesterton is kind of like Catholicism’s C.S. Lewis–both are fantastic writers, creative thinkers, and excellent thought provokers. (And actually, interestingly enough, I think more evangelicals read and like Chesterton than Catholics; but that’s besides my point). Consequently, he’s one of those guys that just gets quoted left and right.

In fact, not too long ago I was flipping channels at work and noticed that PBS was doing a mock “ask Chesterton” show. Of course it was all scripted, but one by one audience members would ask a man who was dressed up as Chesterton a question that promoted this mock Chesterton to recite the appropriate quote that he had seemingly memorized before the show. It was straight up bizarre but oddly interesting.

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