God! Fix My Mess!
I often find myself in predicaments of my own making. I get in a mess and cannot figure out how to extricate myself. I also feel a little odd about asking God to fix a mess I made. Why bother the Creator with a problem that would not exist had I listened to him. I […]
Words and Music
I love music. I especially love the music of the church, those voices blending in harmony bring me to ecstasy. But it’s the words of the songs that are so important. Singing in worship is not an accidentally thought inserted by men. It is appointed by God and has a divine purpose. “Let the word […]
Love
Jesus loves. Jesus teaches love. Jesus is love. No one else teaches love like Jesus. We follow him and so we learn to love like him. It is often a challenge. Let’s begin with a clear definition of love. Love is a decision to provide the very best for another even at a sacrificial cost. […]
Your Check Bounced!
There are not too many people who enjoy paying bills. I spent a few hours this weekend balancing the checkbook and writing more checks to pay my bills. It’s good when you’re done but not really something I look forward to. But I am thankful that we have steady income and have enough money to […]
The Sermon of Sermons
Jesus was beginning to preach and teach. He went to a nearby mountainside and his disciples began to flock after him. Rumors swirled around Jesus. Although he had not said so, many thought him to be the promised deliverer. At the very least, Jesus was a new and fresh Rabbi come to reach his followers. […]
Let’s Take A Walk
I was studying 1 Thessalonians this morning and happened to notice the phrase “walk in a manner worthy of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). I was reminded that Paul had used that same phrase elsewhere. I concluded that it must be important to the apostle or else he would not have been so repetitive. The idea of walking […]
The Thessalonian Way of Faith
Paul spent a turbulent couple of weeks in Thessalonica. Recorded in Acts 17:1-9, the apostle attempted to reason with the Jews of the city and to convince them that Jesus was the Christ that they had been searching for. His work was not as successful, at least by numbers, as it was in other places. […]
1 Thessalonians at FHU
1 and 2 Thessalonians are the featured books being studied this week at Freed-Hardeman University during the annual Bible Lectureship. Some years ago the lectureship committee decided to work their way through the entire Bible, taking one or two books at a time, until the entire Bible had been systematically studied faces have come and […]
The Holy Spirit and Inspiration
Scripture declares it is inspired. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17, ESV) Here, in the English Standard Version (ESV), translators have chosen to interpret […]
3 Rules for Holy Spirit Studies
Many people study the Holy Spirit. This divine member of the Godhead is often seen as a mysterious and unknowable Bible character. Sometimes, what people think they know about the Spirit is actually a blending of a little Bible and a whole lot of misinformation from wealth-seeking television preachers and book-selling authors who know that […]