With all the troubles the world is in, what should the believer do? How do we respond? What about the government and a President with a different set of governing principles? What do we say, how do we pray?
- Featured Posts
- All Posts
Fasting
It’s the season for fasting and prayer at TACC. Many of us have never fasted and so this will be an exploration in a new biblical discipline. Jesus expected us to fast. He said that when he left us that we would fast. So why is it so rare? I place much of the weight of this omission on
Keep ReadingIt’s Not a Simple Symbol
10 ways to fight for the gifts of grace that come from the divinely ordained fellowship of the saints around the Supper of Remembrance.
Keep ReadingI Ride A Road Bike
I ride a road bike (sometimes), and a mountain bike (more often). I can usually carry a spirited, even religious, conversation with anyone about either discipline. You don't have to ask me to talk about it
Keep ReadingOn Doing Devotions Well
The heart and soul of our devotion to God, in our time of devotions, to use an old but good word, must be the Word of God. Of all the spiritual disciplines, the Word must be the center, and the center of the Word is Christ. This time of singular and focused devotion requires the help of the Spirit and so requires our sincere prayer to him for help. Humility in our inability to derive benefit all by ourselves must be at the heart of devotions.
Keep ReadingDelight
When we gather we encourage each other to read the Bible with joy and delight. We do so because: 1. The Bible is the perfect, without error, very words of God to us that speak primarily of His glory and grace in sending His Son to live and die and rise from the dead in order to rule all creation. They instruct us to delight
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Have a Benediction
What’s the benediction at the close of our worship service for? It is a request for God to pour out His grace in response to our worship and renewed conviction to love and serve Him in all we do. It’s a blessing in
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Make Announcements
We make verbal announcements of ministry opportunities at TACC so that the believers at TACC can serve. We do not, and in fact, cannot announce every event because we do not have enough time and we are good at forgetting. That’s why when you send your husband to the store, if he has to remember more than 2 items, you give him a list. That’s also why
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Pray
We pray in our corporate worship service because God answers prayer. Prayer is one of the first acts of a new believer, and the most natural of actions for all believers. Prayer is coming to the God of all grace who loves to hear and answer our requests. Additionally
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Give
Our giving is a part of our worship on Sunday mornings. Giving as worship is expanded upon in 2 Corinthians 8-9. The following is a summary of the teaching on giving by Paul.
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Sing
We sing in our worship service because it is the biblical pattern for God's people: He saves, we sing. There are songs by Moses, Miriam, Deborah, Barak, David, and Hannah - He rescued them all. There are professional singers for the Temple worship - He saves his people, they sing. In the New Testament there are
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: We Pray Using the Words of the Bible
We pray using the words of the Bible as our guide at Taft because it pleases God when our prayer priorities are His priorities. When the Word of God abides in us, our desires become His desires, and He gives us what we ask for. When we pray publicly we are
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: Listening to Preaching From the Bible
An essential part of our worship on Sundays is listening to preaching from the Bible. We do so because the Lord commanded elders in the church to proclaim, in an authoritative public manner, His Word, 2 Timothy 4:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31...
Keep ReadingWhen We Gather Together: Reading Scripture Publicly
We read Scripture publicly because of the instruction to do so in 1 Timothy 4:13, and the example in Nehemiah 8. Additionally, the people of God have traditionally listened to Scripture because copies of the Bible were expensive and not as prevalent as they are today. They listened for hours, were instructed on the meaning, and many had the entire Bible set to memory.
Keep ReadingJesus, a Broken Car Window and a Girl from Oman by Stephen McAlpine
This is a well-written, thoughtful piece, that will hasten you to slow down, and pay attention to others during this season.
Keep ReadingShock & Awe: The Year of the Bible - Feeding Your Bible Habit 15 Ways
We intend to… but then we fall into old habits and don’t follow through. Most of us believe that the life of the Christian should be characterized by a love for, commitment to, passion to read, study, meditate on the Bible. We start that Bible reading program on January 1 but then by the 5th, or the 17th we become sporadic readers and before we know it a week or two have gone by and we are back to the occasional pick up the Bible, let it fall open, read a few verses for inspiration, and on to the next task. Here are 15 ways to avoid the pitfall of good intentions, but poor execution. And may the Word of God dwell in you richly throughout the coming year!!
Keep ReadingJonathan Leeman - The Election Is Over. Let’s Get Political.
The election is over. Maybe. The voters cast their ballots and they will be living with the decision for a long time. Donald Trump's influence on us and the world will continue long after he is no longer President of the United States. Whether you voted for him or not, he is the President. So what do we do? The post by Jonathan Leeman hits the nail on the head. It's worth a slow and thoughtful 15 minutes of your time. Read, ponder, pray and then act!
Keep ReadingTim Challies - Put Not Your Trust in Presidents
Few events have the power to polarize whole communities and countries. And the evangelical Christian community is no exception this time. Yes, I'm talking about this year's presidential election. I have heard strong, strong opinions, and more strong opinions on the options available to believers: vote this one or that one, don't vote for either, vote for a third party candidate, etc.
Keep ReadingThe Illusive Un-Hasty Heart
I've been fascinated in the last several months with how many times the Bible encourages us to stop, listen, hear, and take heed to the Word of God, the Bible. We think that simply reading the Bible and agreeing with it is all that God requires, or that this kind of simple agreement is adequate. Not so!
Keep ReadingWhat is Baptism?
A quick guide to understanding baptism. What it is, what it means, and why we do it.
Keep ReadingWedding Ceremony
A Wedding Ceremony...similar to the one you experienced last year or in the 60's. Not a bad idea to read it again and remember what you promised to God and her/him.
Keep ReadingYou Can Change
A few years back I was rummaging through some old storage boxes and found my first computer hard drive. I jury-rigged it up to a newer computer, hashed through the folders and found this note from a friend sent via email.
Keep Reading