What Was vs. What Ought
Sometimes, the Bible appears to contradict itself. God’s commands are clear, but actions by Bible characters discount those commands. When there is no unambiguous rebuke by the Lord, we reason that the sin is not a big deal. Because the Bible is true, it presents real-life events as they were, not as they ought to […]
What I Saw at 5:30 AM
It’s 5:30 AM and I am the only one awake in the house — the only human that is. Gideon is awake and patrolling the backyard. While I lounge on the patio, he is keeping me safe from evil squirrels and the occasional blue jay that sails into the yard. The sky is growing brighter, […]
The Prodigal Sheep
(Kudos to my brother, Clark Sims, for stimulating these thoughts with his lesson Sunday.) There’s no mistake in the title. I want to talk about the prodigal sheep. He’s the brother who finds his way back into God’s service after years of inactivity and without any help or encouragement from the brethren. Like the prodigal […]
Abortion…Again
Recent legislative actions leave Christians aghast at the possibility that a child, delivered alive, could be killed without legal punishment. At the same time, some state legislatures are resisting federal courts and asserting their right to govern their states without interference from those courts. They are crafting very restrictive laws which would limit or abolish […]
Serving or Served?
There are many problems in the world which run the gamut from inconvenient to catastrophic, from too many meetings at work to nuclear proliferation. I probably cannot do much about nuclear bombs and I probably can’t help you with your work schedule but I am not powerless to serve. The follower of Jesus seeks to […]
Fact Checking Your Preacher
We’ve warned that your should never trust your preacher. It is not that preachers are dishonest (although some are) but that your soul is too important to entrust to anyone other than Jesus. After all, preachers have no innate authority other than that which flows from Scripture. They are just as fragile and breakable as […]
Never Trust Your Preacher!
Why would a preacher tell you to never trust your preacher? Isn’t trust inherent in the job of preaching? I mean, if you never trust your preacher, who can you trust? Gallup published a new poll last month which put preachers on par with journalists for trustworthiness. Only 37% of respondents rate clergy as high […]
How to Confront Someone About Sin
We would love to float through life with neither confrontations nor drama. Tough conversations are unpleasant, and we prefer to steer away from them. But there are times when difficult conversations must take place. Jesus was not a stranger to tough talk. He spoke to critics, skeptics, and followers alike. He even spoke to his […]
Why Bother?
“Of all the things I have to do every week, attending church is not a priority.” Could that be your thinking? If we believe the most current research that is exactly the thinking of many people. They wonder, “Why bother with church?” Life pulls in many directions. There are important things like children, school, and work. […]
Neither Jew nor Greek, Millennial or Boomer
The title butchers the verse. Galatians 3:28 really says: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” It is one of Paul’s great unifying statements on the oneness of the Christian family; the household of God. Spiritually, […]
