Isn’t it amazing how we can be so wrong about so many important things? Before you get mad at me, consider Jesus’ greatest sermon, what we call, the Sermon on the Mount.
He begins the sermon by explaining to us the origins of true happiness and his prescription for happiness is nothing like any human being would ever imagine. Read more…
I think of life as a test mainly because of the Book of Job. In this largely ignored and misunderstood book of the Bible, it begins with a host of angels presenting themselves before the Lord. We don’t understand exactly why, but we do know that angels are God’s servants. Perhaps they are answering to God for what they’ve been doing. Read more…
History has proven that there is nothing more challenging to the church than what we refer to as the “gray” areas of scripture. What does that mean? Gray areas are things that the scripture does not specifically address.
In contrast, we refer to the areas in scripture that are clear as the “black and white” areas. An example of a black and white issue would be something like Exodus 20:15, Read more…
We are starting a new series I’ve entitled, “The Advanced Lessons.” In Matthew, chapters seventeen through twenty, Jesus withdraws from the multitudes to spend the majority of His time with His disciples.
In this, His last six months on Earth prior to His crucifixion, He will prepare His disciples for their future ministries. The first of these advanced lessons comes in Matthew 17:14-21. Read more…
When I went through short-term missions training, I was taught a little bit about how to not be noticed while traveling to and from mission destinations. In third world countries standing out can be dangerous. One of the reasons I was taught to not stand out is because if you appear to be a person of means, it may make you a target for thieves, so it’s good to blend in. Read more…
Last year, for a New Year’s sermon, I preached the text of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18,
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
and set the following resolutions for 2020: Read more…
Every new year I like to go through the Bible to see how Bible verses correspond with the new year. For instance, this upcoming year is 2021, so I look at every book of the Bible that has a chapter “20” and a verse “21,” just to see what they say.
There’s nothing prophetic or mystical about it, but it’s fun. This year I thought we could look at the verses together and see what 20:21 has in store for us… Read more…
We’ve all heard the saying, “The best things in life are free,” but is that true? I think that it’s both true and false.
I would modify the saying to say, “Few of the best things in life are free.”
Think about it. Now name some good things that are free. One might say, “To behold the beauty of nature is free.” Is that free? Because the last time I checked, it costs me quite a lot to enjoy the beauty of nature. Read more…
Holy Scripture does us absolutely no good whatsoever if we do not learn and remember the lessons that it teaches us.
One of the most important lessons that God teaches us that we must learn and remember is found in the words of the Lord in Isaiah 55:8-9 Read more…
In the text of Matthew 16:13-20, there is some confusion that must be sorted out, but what we must not do in the midst of sorting out the confusion is miss the point.
The key of the text is the words of Jesus as He proclaims in verse 18, I will build My church. Read more…
