Nathan E. Lewis

This past week during the memorial services at Fort Hood, Texas, Steve Inskeep of National Public Radio interviewed Chaplain Maj. Dawud Agbere, one of the 10 Muslim chaplains employed by the U.S. military. A few of his responses to Inkeep’s questions reminded me that the Christian’s one, unique message, is the gospel. Here’s the clip of the interview that caught my attention:
INSKEEP: We should make clear for people who may not know: Youre not just seeing Muslim soldiers, are you?
Maj. AGBERE: Exactly. So, you know, I tell people all the time, I am not a Muslim Chaplain. I am a Chaplain who happens to be of the Islamic faith. So, yes, the Christian chaplain will take care of the Muslim soldier. The Jewish rabbi will take care of the Mormon soldier. So sometimes, I find myself in a unit, and Im the only Muslim in that unit.
INSKEEP: And Islam has enough in common with Christianity and other religions that you have no trouble giving all kinds of people advice that youre comfortable with and that theyre comfortable with?
Maj. AGBERE: Exactly. I mean, look at human situations. You know, when you talk of divorce, financial problems, these things don’t have religion. These are things human beings go through. Continue reading »

“The Peace of the Gospel”
Philippians 4: 1-9
Sermon preached by Nathan E. Lewis at Ascension PCA and Evergreen PCA
Beaverton, Oregon

The whole world is longing for peace. In my childhood in the 60’s we sang in school: Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Continue reading »

World Harvest Mission

-Highly recommended nine week study/discussion applying the gospel to a group of people strewn along the spectrum of spiritual growth and experience. Check it out and purchase at World Harvest Mission.

Our neighborhood is situated in a grove of mature Oregon oak and swamp ash. Their beauty in all four seasons defines the neighborhood. But they are messy. These trees harbor at least thirty species of insects, attracting at least 15 species of birds. In the autumn they drop leaves; in the winter, twigs. In the spring, the ash drop helicopter seeds. In the summer, the oak drop acorns. Thousands of trees sprout throughout our garden and of course, there are the squirrels - hordes of them, nesting in the trees, playing in the yard, and devouring our garden, even our persimmons, like a horde of locusts. Continue reading »

Dr. Dennis Johnson has compiled a selection of sermons published by Crossway that is a must read for anyone looking for Christ in the whole of the Bible (or seeking to deliver sermons that are truly preaching, that is, proclamations of the gospel.) I am not one given to reading sermons or texts on how to preach, but I read this book as Dr. Johnson kindly gave me a copy (not only to me but to everyone who attended a luncheon hosted by Westminster Seminary at the General Assembly meetings of the Presbyterian Church in America this past June in Orlando.) The book is a tribute to the gospel preaching of Dr. Edmund P. Clowney.
The book is well worth its price to read and read again Tim Keller’s sermon on Genesis 29: 15-35, titled, “The Girl Nobody Wanted.” Continue reading »

This past Sunday at Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, those of us gathered had the privilege of hearing elder Michael Kane deliver a charge to Dann Golden-Collum at his ordination as an elder. The ongoing result is the ringing of the gospel in our ears and hearts.

CHARGE TO RULING ELDER DANN GOLDEN-COLLUM
EVERGREEN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
JUNE 7 2009
2 Corinthians 4: 7

Dann,

Well, you’re about to have a rare experience – a sermon written just for you!

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all-surpassing power is from God and not from us
Continue reading »

Joy Williams, in the New York Times, February 26, 2009 reviews “The Life of Flannery O’Connor,” by Brad Gooch. Not having read Gooch’s biography, I don’t know his observations and conclusions but through Williams’ review. Williams’ review is a fascinating description of an eccentric Flannery O’Connor. Undoubtedly, she was a weird chick. While there is an inseparable and interesting connection between an author’s life and her writing, I do not think we should judge the merits of the writing based upon the flaws in the author’s character. Continue reading »

I know a man who has become so sick and tired of his habitual sin that he has taken drastic measures. He has taken to wearing a blindfold. He cuffs his hands, wears a chastity belt (his wife is keeper of the keys) and he shackles his feet. He hires a retired mendicant (they work for almost nothing) to read the Holy Scriptures to him, as his blindfold prevents him from doing his own reading. He reports that as long as he is subject to these constraints, he has not fallen to his habitual sins. He tells me that the Word of God has been the cause of the cessation of his sin. When I mention his cuffs, shackles, blindfold, and belt, he quickly insists that the Bible has provided all of these for his prevention of his sin. He is wearing these in obedience to the Word of God. He listens to the monk read and he does his best to memorize as much as he can, hiding the very Words of God so that he might not sin against God.
He has even memorized Psalm 119:105, “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” I asked him if he had been doing much walking lately. “No, no I haven’t. When I get up and out of these shackles, I get into trouble. No I haven’t been on the path for a very long time. If I am going to stay away from sin, then I need to stay right here in my room, close to my Bible reading monk.” I told him I found it interesting that this memorized verse about the law of God enlightening our common life encouraged us to get up and out into the world where the Word of God could be applied to anything we might encounter. “Oh no! I am too sinful and weak for the world. I need to stay right here with my blindfold over my eyes, listening to the Word of God.”
“OK,” I said. “I am returning to the world now and when I return, I hope to find you in good health and spirits.” Continue reading »

The main story of the Bible is God redeeming his people. The following paragraphs outline the whole of the Bible showing how every bit of scripture points to Jesus Christ.
The Age of Adam: Adam is the one man who failed God, so the one man, Jesus Christ, came to represent all of us in his perfect obedience to God All of us who are united to Adam by natural birth, must be united to Jesus Christ for redemption and spiritual birth.

Continue reading »

If you go to monergism.com you will find a rich source of free literature on a multitude of topics including the Gospel. This past week I had the privilege of visiting with a friend who was despairing. I listened to him for a good long time, prayed with him, read several Psalms to him. In our second hour together, he said, “I am told that you could read to me some Bible verses that would show me how I can put my faith in Jesus and be assured of God’s love.” I took him through a whirlwind tour of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, selecting several key verses. He tracked with me all along the way. At Romans 10 after I read, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved,” he said, “And you are going to help me do that right now.” Nothing replaces a working knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, but reading literature about the Gospel from people who are searching and applying the Scripture can be a fine aid. Every once in awhile, I meet someone who is ready to read extensively and enter into a conversation about the Gospel and its ramifications for life. I recommend the free files at monergism.