Month: February 2018

America, Billy Graham, Calling, Christianity, Culture, Evangelicalism, Jesus, Jesus Movement, Ministry, Modern Life4 Comments

The Heart of Billy Graham

Gary Furr

In the late 1920s. my mother told me, my grandfather, her daddy, Henry Price took his oldest daughter, Katherine, to the hospital.  The doctor said that she had diphtheria and if he didn’t take her to the hospital she would die. Having no health insurance, Grandpa had to sell every chicken, cow and piece of equipment he had, as well as his his land and his house to pay the hospital bill. With few other options, he moved his young family down to Charlotte and got a job with a local dairy farmer delivering milk. He would go out to … Continue reading The Heart of Billy Graham

Children, Christianity, Constitution, Death, fear, guns, mass murder, Parenting, Terrorism

The Valley of Hinnom

Gary Furr

In the book of 2 Kings 23:10 we read of a defiled valley in Jerusalem where child sacrifice had been practiced through burning. King Josiah, in his reforms, declared it a defiled place.  According to 2 Chronicles. 28:1-3, King Ahaz had offered incense there and offered his sons as a sacrifice.  It was considered accursed, a desecrated place.  So, too, King Manasseh, the wicked King who turned his back on the faith by permitting the horrific practices of other religions (although leading the nation to a prosperous economy) to be allowed, including child sacrifice. occultism, witchcraft and sorcery, channeling and … Continue reading The Valley of Hinnom

Christianity, Jesus, Lent, Parables, Parables, Teachings3 Comments

Parables as Mind Openers

Gary Furr

Dr. Tom Wright, the New Testament scholar, calls the parables of Jesus “open-ended stories” in his brilliant book, Jesus and the Victory of God.   They are also stories of the coming Kingdom.  In these teachings, he argues, Jesus does four things—he issues an invitation, a word of welcome, words of challenge, and words of decision and calling Last week,  during my Wednesday morning Bible study, I told about two kinds of thinking that we do about things that matter.  One is convergent thinking—we move toward narrowin g down to a solution, a focus, to eliminate the options and get to … Continue reading Parables as Mind Openers