God – Page 5 – Traditores

The Prayer of a Child

Posted on May 28, 2011May 28, 2011 by Alan

Michelle, Augie, and I were returning from Bible Study yesterday, and (as is quite often true) I had my iPod playing on shuffle through the car's stereo. I believe were were enjoying a song by Christina Anu when Augie made a simple request. (If you are not familiar with Anu, she's an Australian singer whose largest hit was, "My Island Home.")

What was Augie's entreaty?

From the back seat he said, "Augie's church music?"

Christina Anu shouldn't be insulted at the little guy's request for a change of genre—Augie knows that I have quite a few of his songs in my library, and it's good that kids like hearing other kids sing. What was surprising was that just after he asked…within a couple seconds…VeggieTales came on.

A little blonde curly-haired boy petitioned, and the Lord delivered. God blessed our music-loving munchkin. Continue reading “The Prayer of a Child”

Living in Ordinary Time

Posted on May 17, 2011May 20, 2011 by Alan

"I'm so very, ordinary / Nothing special, on my own.
Oh I, have never / Walked on water.
And I have never / Calmed a storm."

So begins Nicole C. Mullen's inspirational song, "Call on Jesus." The reason that track comes to mind is because as I quickly head toward my 47th birthday I see how few of my youthful ambitions have come to fruition. No, I'm not dead yet, but the Fahrner genes are such that I am likely significantly past the half-way mark of my time here on earth.

I don't know about you, but growing up I really thought I could do anything I wanted to. (Isn't that what we still teach children…that they can be whatever they want to be?) For that matter, as a youngster I planned on securing the ultimate American job—President of the United States—even figuring out the earliest I could run based on the minimum age of 36. (I guess I should have given George W. Bush and Al Gore a run for their money in 2000…might have prevented a bunch of hanging chads.) Continue reading “Living in Ordinary Time”

The Demons Shudder

Posted on April 10, 2011May 17, 2011 by Alan

The belief of demons

This sermon is going to be both normal and abnormal. Normal in that we'll return to looking up a good number of scriptures together—abnormal in that we'll spend quite a bit time talking about demons. As a whole I don't think it's good to focus on the Devil and his angels. They are plenty interesting…but that's the problem…they can be too interesting, and they can pull our eyes off the One we really should fix our gaze upon.

The One who, when compared to the entire evil host, is light a beach compared to a single grain of sand—and that's still exaggerating their significance.

Continue reading “The Demons Shudder”

Ockham’s Razor

Posted on April 3, 2011January 4, 2014 by Alan

Explanation #1

Starting off today’s sermon, I would like to explain how this tan metallic cabinet beside me got here.

About a month ago, the owner was transporting it in the back of his truck while driving to Keene and hit a frost heave on Route 31, causing it to bounce out of the back of his vehicle. Luckily, just prior to that happening a dump truck filled with sawdust had also gone a bit too fast over that large bump and dropped a pile of sawdust in the exact place where the metal cabinet landed.

So this cabinet, in perfect condition, was just sitting there when, of all things, a group of thieves with a van came upon it (heading toward town). The leader especially likes tan and anything he can stick his collection of Hawaiian magnets to, so he had his compadres throw it into the back. Strangely enough, the target for their criminal activity that day was our church, and they arrived in front a short time later.

Continue reading “Ockham’s Razor”

50 Reasons to Question God

Posted on March 27, 2011May 17, 2011 by Alan

What would you ask God?

If you had the opportunity to ask God anything…and He would definitely answer…what would you ask?

What if you could ask Him only one thing…what question would be most important to you?

Would it be personal? Why something awful happened to you or someone you love?

Would it be scientific? Do you really wonder how light can be both a wave and a particle at the same time? 🙂

Would it be one of those "meaning of life" type of questions? Would you want to know why you are here?

Continue reading “50 Reasons to Question God”

“For Those Who Will Believe”

Posted on January 23, 2011January 24, 2011 by Alan

Expository preaching

Last week I said that I was preaching my first…and perhaps last…expository sermon. As anyone who has listened to me know, I am more of a topical speaker…although one who attempts to make sure it is Scripture that is speaking about the subject, not me.

As fate would have it, however, this sermon will be expository too. Winslow asked me to preach on the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13…and I need a bit more time before I do that…but I figured it would be good to instead discuss one of my favorite prayers in the Bible…as recorded in John chapter 17.

Now…that’s a fairly long prayer…so we won’t be dissecting it quite verse-by-verse…but I will be attempted to "expound" on some major points it contains.

So here is Alan’s expository sermon #2…although I am not longer convinced future ones are unlikely…some scriptures beg for special focus. 🙂

The Night Before

Although I was in the Navy for a few years…I did not face combat…I never even handled a weapon.

Even so I can imagine a little how it must feel the night before a major battle. For instance, visualize being with the rest of your platoon the night before D-day. What would you be doing? What you would be talking about?

There is a saying that there are no atheists in a fox hole…so…

Continue reading ““For Those Who Will Believe””

The Hand of God

Posted on January 2, 2011December 15, 2013 by Alan

A Father’s Hand

In this week’s bulletin article, "A Father’s Hand," I compared my holding Augie’s hand to how our heavenly Father holds ours. I won’t regurgitate all of it now…but before I wrote that I used my Logos Bible Software 4 to look up every occurrence of the word "hand" in the English Standard Version. There were enough that it had to split the results into two pages…and a huge hunk of the results spoke of the hand of God.

Enough that all this sermon is going to be able to do is lightly touch on the subject…but hopefully in a way that by the end you’ll not only want to have that hand touch you, but that you’ll realize just whose hand is reaching down from above.

Whose had?

And let’s start with the question of whose hand…

Looking through all the uses of "hand" in the Old Testament, my favorite book was Isaiah. In his poetry and prose I couldn’t help but connect our Lord’s hand with our Lord’s majesty. For instance, let’s turn to Isaiah 45:11-12:

11 Thus says the LORD,

the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:

"Ask me of things to come;

will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?

12 I made the earth

and created man on it;

it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,

and I commanded all their host.

Continue reading “The Hand of God”

A Father’s Hand

Posted on January 1, 2011January 8, 2011 by Alan

More often then not, when I run errands close to home I am joined by a most affable companion. For instance, if I ask Augie if he would like to go to T-Bird I am guaranteed a hearty "Yes please!" At this point whenever he sees me throwing on shoes and the like, he assumes it is his duty to escort me and immediately says, "Bye bye mum mum."

And I am not complaining :-)…although "mum mum" isn’t always so amused at his energetic willingness to abandon her…

Getting from the house to the car is generally a safe and effortless task, but Augie is still a bit small for the front deck’s stairs, so he prefers to hold my hand. As a whole my grasp is fairly light, but once a few weeks ago he started to slip and my grip quickly tightened, keeping my munchkin from toppling over. Continue reading “A Father’s Hand”

Remembering a Friend of God

Posted on November 30, 2010December 15, 2010 by Alan

November 29, 2010

Today I wondered how the early Christians reacted to the news of Paul’s passing. How about those closest to him—the ones who were his partners in the gospel? Did the Philippians remember Paul’s letter to them—how he desired to "depart and be with Christ" (Philippians 1:23, ESV)—and then celebrate the fact he finally was granted his wish? Did Timothy smile and think about the "crown of righteousness" his mentor received because he "fought the good fight…finished the race…kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7-8)?

No, I suspect that their initial reaction to hearing that Paul had finally paid the ultimate price for preaching the gospel in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2) was the same as mine this morning at the news that Graham Maxwell had passed away overnight. Paul’s death was not unexpected; he specifically told Timothy he did not have long—that the "time of [his] departure [had] come" (2 Timothy 4:6). Neither was Graham’s a surprise—his family saw how he was losing the battle with age and were by his side during his final moments.

Continue reading “Remembering a Friend of God”

Halloween Crèche?

Posted on November 6, 2010November 6, 2010 by Alan

On a street quite familiar to those of us in Antrim who have needed medical or dental attention, there is a large outdoor crèche that helps bring a little Christ into Christmas during the holiday season–as it reminds us the Son of God, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23, ESV), “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). I cannot explain why, but I’ve always been partial to nativity sets—there is a peace and calm they project—the carol “Silent Night” comes to mind. And, as I ponder it more I think of another Christmas favorite, “Away in a Manger,” where we learn that “the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head” in a feeding trough because He had “no crib for His bed.” Perhaps the joy and warmth I experience listening to that piece is the same as was felt by “the stars in the bright sky” who “looked down where He lay” and saw “the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.” What a glorious sight!

Continue reading “Halloween Crèche?”

Time in a Bottle

Posted on October 3, 2010August 11, 2013 by Alan

Redeeming Time

During Sunday morning’s Bible study we’ve been slowly working our way through Ephesians, and this week we spent some time with these verses:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17).

The part that stands out most to me is “making the best use of time, because the days are evil.” The original Greek is probably more accurately translated as “redeeming time”–which ends up being a bit more emphatic.

So much comes to mind when I ponder the word “time.” My brain can quickly move from sayings like “a stitch in time saves nine”…

To dreams of time travel (and the paradox that quickly results)…

To songs about time (how many can picture Mick Jagger singing, “Ti…i..i…i…ime is on my side”¹?)…

To biblical advice.

As you can imagine, being that this is a sermon, we’ll focus on the latter. ☺

Continue reading “Time in a Bottle”

Kenley’s Sermon on Jonah

Posted on September 5, 2010August 11, 2013 by Alan

(14 questions)

First..apologies…this sermon was written (and executed) under the influence of a bad cold. Thus my limited intelligence has been further impeded…

Although sometimes a sermon topic jumps out at me, I really like it when church members suggest ideas for a talk. With the help of her mom Randi, Kenley came up with today’s subject–the book of Jonah.

On the surface it might not seem like great sermon fodder–you know, Jonah is a pretty simple story:

God commands Jonah to go tell the Ninevites they are going to get destroyed.
Jonah tries to escape on a ship.
God sends a storm.
Jonah ends up in a fish.
Jonah gets his head on straight.
The fish vomits up Jonah.
Jonah tells the Ninevites they are going to be destroyed.
The Ninevites repent.
God relents.
Jonah gets angry because he knew God would show mercy.
God tells him he shouldn’t be angry.

Not a whole bunch to it…doesn’t seem much more complex than a children’s story, does it?

Continue reading “Kenley’s Sermon on Jonah”

Clay or Butter

Posted on July 11, 2010December 1, 2016 by Alan

The Devil Made Me Do It

Anybody here remember Clerow Wilson, Jr.?

How about Flip Wilson? That was Clerow’s stage name…

For those less familiar with his comedy genius, Flip Wilson was the “first black entertainer to be the host of a successful variety show on network television.” The Flip Wilson Show was the #1 variety show “shortly after it began on NBC in 1970” and was #2 on television overall in 1972 (surpassed only by “All in the Family”).¹

Flip portrayed multiple characters…but perhaps the most memorable one was Geraldine, a woman pretty sure of herself looks-wise and wife of Killer…utterer of famous lines like “When you’re hot, you’re hot” and “What you see is what you get.” That second one will be familiar to those of us who used the first early WYSIWYG (pronounced “wizzy-wig”) HTML editors.

I can’t speak for others…but as a person who identifies most with the 70s decade…another one of Geraldine’s famous sayings sticks in my head more. Do you know what it is?

“The Devil made me do it.”

Continue reading “Clay or Butter”

Trudy’s Sermon on Wrath

Posted on June 6, 2010August 11, 2013 by Alan

So…why is this sermon called, “Trudy’s Sermon About Wrath”?

Trudy is one of the most reliable attendees of our Bible studies…and often as we look at a book of the Bible or research a topic, we come across God’s wrath. Now, I’m not going to suggest that Trudy is a wrathful person…but somehow she always seems to pick up on the subject. ☺

It seems, however, during those discussions we don’t have the proper time to spend on the “tangent” of wrath–and I promised Trudy that sooner-or-later we’d discuss it.

I try to be a man of my word, so this is my attempt to explain our Lord’s wrath…and I’ll admit upfront that just like any other time a finite man tries to explain an infinite God, I’m going to come up short–and not just because I had to cut out a lot to fit this within 30 minutes.

Hopefully, however, our understanding of this difficult topic will grow together.

Continue reading “Trudy’s Sermon on Wrath”

Why, Why, Why?

Posted on April 18, 2010August 11, 2013 by Alan

Taxi Driver

One of the benefits of traveling is meeting new people–often taxi cab drivers. Heading back to my hotel from Busch Stadium this past Monday I was blessed by a long chat with a former Ethiopian, Eyasu Reda.

The conversation started going biblical when, after I told him how Augie was a bit of a late arrival based on my wife’s age, he noted she was like Sarah.

Michelle will be glad to know that I did confirm she wasn’t quite that old. ☺

Just before we got to the St. Louis Airport Marriott Eyasu brought up how his daughter spoke with him about Job. She could accept the terrible things that happened to him–but what about children who haven’t done anything wrong…yet suffer horrific fates. Why does God allow it?

Eyasu didn’t feel that he was able to answer that well.

Would you?

Continue reading “Why, Why, Why?”