Ben Franklin once said, “In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.” While I appreciate his wit and agree that those two things are an unfortunate mainstay, there are, of course, many more certainties we can expect in this age. For the Christian, one certainty, I’m sad to say, is persecution. Suffering of this type is particularly commonplace for Christians…
CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God
CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God
Posts from 2010 (Page 3)
One of the great testimonial songs in the hymnal begins this way: Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine! In the midst of life’s storms, assurance that God will never let you go is a wonderful comfort. The fact that you, no matter the situation, will be victorious in the end through Christ is a soothing balm…
As one looks at the life of Job (pronounced Jōb) in Scripture, nobody can deny the fact that Job suffered greatly. In one day through major catastrophic events, he lost his great number of livestock, his many servants, and all ten of his children. Soon thereafter, he was smitten with a terrible disease, causing black, burning boils to break out on his…
As I meditated on the life of Joseph this past week found in the book of Genesis, I began to wonder about Joseph’s prayer life. I mean, Joseph was a man of God, right? Didn’t Joseph ever pray in the midst of his calamities? In the pit, surely Joseph earnestly prayed to God that he would be restored back to his father’s…
Bad things happen. The reality of calamity isn’t news to anybody. Just live long enough and you’ll know it firsthand. But the “why” question is usually what’s burning on everybody’s heart. Do you ever wonder why bad things happen? I’m not talking about the immediate cause, like the accelerator sticking on a Toyota Camry. I’m talking about ultimate cause. Now, the atheist…
From the year 1999 to 2008, I had the high privilege of having youth ministry as my primary ministry. That’s an entire decade! Now, I know that some of you reading this will say that a decade’s nothing because you’ve been doing youth ministry for 30 years. You’re welcome to point that out, but remember: you risk telling how old you are! 😉 Nevertheless, during…
Some of the most beloved teaching from the Scripture is found in the first 12 verses of Matthew 5, which are commonly called the Beatitudes. These Kingdom proclamations, straight from the mouth of Jesus, are so powerful primarily because of the paradox contained in them. Paradox is something that seems to go against common experience or common sense. Jesus is taking the…
In Galatians 6:16, the Apostle Paul promised, And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. It’s pretty simple to determine what the rule is that Paul is referencing. You only have to go back one verse to Galatians 6:15 to find it, For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but…
If you have tuned into Christian television channels like the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), you’ve probably heard Galatians 6:7 and 2 Corinthians 9:6 either quoted or alluded to a lot. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap,” and 2 Corinthians 9:6…
On the heels of my meta-sermon (a sermon about sermons) last night, I find Al Mohler’s recent blog both intriguing and helpful. Dr. Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, and one of the nation’s leading commentators on the interaction between culture and theology. You’ll definitely want to read his blog here. May…