Posts from 2020 (Page 17)

Life is filled with choices. The vast majority of these are in the realm of the mundane: What pants or shirt am I going to wear? Will I have a burger or chicken fingers? Plain or peanut M&Ms? Or neither… I’ll have a Snickers bar! Some choices are between what is right and wrong, between good and evil. Will I keep this gossip to myself, or will I give it wings? The cashier gave me too much change. Will I…

When I was a teenager working on the farm, I remember the first time I was allowed to drive the tractor in the field by myself. And “by myself” I mean with no one else in the tractor with me. My job was not difficult. It took 4 tractors to plant soybeans in those days: two discs, a do all, and a planter. I had the easiest job – the first disc through the field. Our fields were square at…

I am an avid gardener and have been for many years. Like most gardeners, I know exactly what vegetables I want, and I know exactly which variety of those vegetables I want. For example, when it comes to sweet corn, I am strictly a Bodacious grower. With indeterminate tomatoes, give me Atkinson. When it comes to peas, nothing but Mississippi Pink Eye #2 Purple Hull will do. I also grow varieties of okra, different types of peppers, squash, cucumber watermelon, cantaloupe,…

“And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John” (Luke 7:29). I have found this to be a most intriguing and helpful phrase. How exactly does one “justify God?” Just a couple of scholarly explanations and I’ll get to the main point of this article… “They considered God righteous in making these demands of them” – A.T. Robertson. “Declaring… that God’s will concerning John’s baptism was right” –…

One mistake that is often made is to teach truth using a text that seems to support the point, but in its context really doesn’t. For example, all my life I heard Psalm 111:9 used as a proof text not to refer to men as “Reverend.” The argument was that the only time that term was used in the Bible (we all used the KJV) was in Psalm 111:9, and there it was used in respect to the name of…

I remember hearing this from a friend of mine concerning another friend of mine when I was in the 5thor 6thgrade. My “uncool” friend was over to spend the night with me, and we gathered for some basketball with some other guys, all friends of mine, but guys who ran in a different circle than my other friend. I remember being hurt over that statement. I loved my friend (and still do 40 years later though we are not as…

Luke 4 is an interesting text as we consider the humanity and divinity of Jesus. The Bible is clear that Jesus was a partaker and participant in both human and divine nature (John 1:1-4, 14; Heb 2:14). Being a man meant the ability to be tempted with and succumb to sin (Heb 2:18, 4:15). Being a man also in some way meant sacrificing his equality with God, seeing as He also had the ability to die (Phil 2:5-8). Our text,…

Of course, I don’t believe Peter was the first Pope, because the Bible doesn’t teach or even imply it. But the Bible DOES teach that Peter was married. In the interest of fairness, the Catholic Church did not formally forbid the clergy to marry until the Lateran councils of the early 12thcentury. So using Peter as an example against the demanded celibacy of the Catholic hierarchy is not proper. But the Catholic Church magnifies Peter as the greatest of all…

Today’s title is found in Luke 1:17, spoken by Gabriel to Zachariah about his son who would be born and known as John the Baptizer. In today’s text we see it brought to fruition. Elijah was a powerful preacher, one who was unafraid of the kings and rulers of Israel (1 Ki 18:17-18; 21:20-24). In today’s language, some might say, “He spoke truth to power.” Though powerful in his preaching, Elijah was not without compassion. Through him God raised the…

Today’s title is a phrase often used when someone experiences some great event which they longed to see or participate. It is used after one meets some great athlete, author, or respected person. It is used after one makes a great journey, perhaps to see the land of his birth, Normandy, or climbs Mount Everest. Most people have no idea the phrase is a paraphrase of a statement made in today’s text. In Luke 2:25-35 we are introduced to Simeon.…