Emphasis Preaching Journal

The late Bishop Richard C. Raines once said that a vital religious faith ought to have two important aspects: 1. It should be intellectually respectable. 2. It should be spiritually dynamic. When the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing his mighty works because he was possessed by a devil, he sought to reason with them. "How can Satan drive out Satan?" he asked. Jesus did not outrage reason although sometimes he did outrun it. Likewise, he appealed for a commitment that had counted the cost, had no reservations, and freely took up the cross. The halfhearted need not apply.