Author Archives: Mike Conroy

September 3, 2010

Feedback Friday: Why Not?

By Mike Conroy

I read a really challenging question in Craig Blomberg’s book, Neither Poverty nor Riches: A biblical theology of possesions. Here it is:

“If you knew you would have 20% less income next year, what area of your current budget would be most affected?” In other words, what would you cut back? Eating out? Movies?

Then he asks, “Why not cut back, without being forced to, for the sake of Christian giving?”

Posted in Feedback Friday, Money | Leave a comment
August 20, 2010

Feedback Friday: Animal Rights?

By Mike Conroy

I’m preaching through Matthew. This week I’m in 12:1-14: Sabbath controversies. Jesus employs an argument that He has used 2 time before, that is, how much more value are humans than animals?

He does this in 6:26, 10:31, and 12:12. Why? Particularly in the last case (12:12) Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees for caring more for sheep than for people. I think Jesus is alluding back to Hosea 13:2: It is said of them, “Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!” In Hosea’s day Israel offered human sacrifice, yet valued the cow. Jesus is saying to the Pharisees: You are just as evil and apostate as them, you care for sheep more than you do for the weak and needy people around you.

So my question is: How should we think Biblically through the surge of Animal Right talk? I don’t think it’s Biblical to be cruel to animals, but do we need to be careful with our priorities? How do we balance all of this?

Posted in Feedback Friday | Leave a comment
August 16, 2010

Prepare to Die: Deriding All Our Deeds

By Mike Conroy

This article first appeared in Proclamation a free monthly discipleship newsletter. To be added to our print mailing list write to covenantrc@verizon.net

Matthew 7:21-23 is one of the most terrifying texts in the New Testament.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The expected outcome of this text is that those who did the “mighty works” in Jesus’ Name would be welcomed into the kingdom, but, in fact, the exact opposite happens. This is what makes this text so terrifying. This passage raises a couple questions. First, “What exactly was wrong with their obedience which they confessed on the Final Day of Judgment?” Second, “How do we avoid ending up like them?” As we meditate on these words of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are confronted with issues of life and death. Read More »

Posted in Christ, Good Works, Gospel | 2 Comments
August 6, 2010

Which Child Do You Love More?

By Mike Conroy

Sometimes I hear parents openly admit that they love one child more than their other children. I have often talked to other Christians about it and have raised the question, “Do the Patriarchs give us a principle of this?” The first-born was supposed to get the blessing. Does this warrant a present day kind of favoritism towards one of our own children?

Is this a good practice? Should you love one child more? Does God love you more than me?

Posted in Feedback Friday | 1 Comment
July 23, 2010

Feedback Friday: What are you reading?

By Mike Conroy

Right now I am reading The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline it’s by Jonathan Leeman and it comes from 9 Marks.

I like it. He brings some very interesting points. First, he interacts with our cultural misunderstands of individuality, love, and authority. He argues that the church needs to define love to the world. Second, he sets forth biblical understands of love and authority. Lastly, he applies these biblical definitions to membership and discipline.

It’s a very good read.

What are you reading?

Posted in Feedback Friday | 4 Comments
July 21, 2010

Guard the New Wine

By Mike Conroy

Here is a clip from a sermon I preached on 6-13-10. How do we guard the Gospel of Jesus from falsehood that is common in our time? It comes from Matthew 9:9-17:

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Posted in Evangelism, Good Works, Gospel, Salvation, Sermon Clip | 3 Comments
July 9, 2010

Feedback Friday: How do you love Jesus?

By Mike Conroy

I’m not preaching this week at church. My passage for next week is Matthew 10:34-39, the one where Jesus says you have to hate your family if you want to follow after Him.

I like that I have an extra week to meditate on this. It is really challenging. We all know that it does not mean actually hate them, even if they become our enemies on account of our commitment to Jesus (v.34), because we are commanded to love even our enemies in this Gospel (5:44). We know what it means: compared to how much we love Jesus, we are to relatively hate our families. We are to love Jesus so much that our love for the greatest gifts He has given us in this life look like hatred compared to our infatuation with Jesus. Does this describe you?

This is what discipleship must look like; this is Jesus’ point in this passage. He is saying: If you don’t love me like this you are not fit to be my disciple. I think if we look in our own lives we find that we love even smaller things more than Him, like: sleep, food, air-conditioning, medical insurance, retirement, i-pads, and the list could go on.

So what do you do to foster this kind of love for Jesus? What steps do you take to make sure that you love Him above all things, and hate everything compared to Him?

Posted in Feedback Friday | 4 Comments
June 25, 2010

Feedback Friday: Should Christians be Humanitarians?

By Mike Conroy

There seems to me to be a clear, distinct line between serving the needs of the world (hunger, orphans, sickness, homelessness, etc) in a way that honors the Gospel and doing it in a way that massively dishonors the Gospel. The way you do the latter is called the Social Gospel. What is the Social Gospel? It is simply the belief that the good news of Jesus is improving humanity. The main message of the Gospel, according to this view, is exhausted when we make the world a less sick place, or an orphanless place, or better in whatever way.

This view does not honor God or the Gospel. The real need of mankind is not better living style, but the redemption of their souls. If we see the fundamental message of the Gospel as improving living standards then we actually show hatred to the people we serve; a long life does not yield eternal life. The spiritual need of men is more important than the physical needs. Even if we were able to give the poor the whole world, and yet neglect the issue of their soul – they would still perish. Therefore, preaching Jesus as the only Redeemer and the only Savior for man is infinitely more important than engaging in helping the physical needs of people.

Okay. Great, right? I think that there are many people who understand this point and use it to justify themselves as they don’t serve the needs of the people around them. Serving the needs of people, being concerned about their well-being (humanitarian), is, not only a Biblical command, but a great way to share the Gospel. We could look at text like: James 1:27: caring for widows and orphans in their affliction as being part of true religion; or, Galatians 6:10: doing good to everyone, especially those who are in the household of faith; or, we could look at numbers of texts that show God’s concern for the poor: Proverbs 21:13, 31:8-9, 31:20, Psalm 109:31, 112:9.

Caring for the needs of people is something that Christians ought to be engaged in, not as an end in itself, but as a means to preach Jesus to them; to meet their physical needs and their spiritual need.

So my question is: what side are you on? And how do we guard the Gospel in our service to people? What kind of ministries are available to us in our area to serve the needs of the people and show them Christ?

Posted in Feedback Friday | 1 Comment
June 16, 2010

Don’t Hide Behind Good Arguments

By Mike Conroy

Radical discipleship is the norm, not just limited to a few people. This sermon clip comes from Matthew 8:18-27. The man who wanted to follow Jesus but first wanted to bury his father (v.21) seemed to have a good reason why he had to wait, and yet he missed Jesus. Sometimes we, like this man, hide from Jesus’ demands with arguments that seem right, but are fundamentally wrong. I was very encouraged the week after I preached this, a man from church told me that he is seriously considering missionary work and wanted my input on where to start.

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Posted in Audio, Christian Living, Discipleship, Money, Sermon Clip | Tagged , | Leave a comment
June 9, 2010

Work like a Thief: a work ethic for the honest

By Mike Conroy

In Ephesians 4:28 Paul gives instruction for the ex-thief, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Unfortunately, we restrict the meaning of this verse too tightly to ex-thieves, which is flawed for a number of reasons. Read More »

Posted in Christian Living, Exegetical, Money, Work | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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