Someone once wrote, “Life is full of ups and downs, Like a rollercoaster ride, Times of joy and times of frowns, Through which we must abide.” How do we help one another through these ups and downs, these hills and valleys? The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul tells us how in Romans 12:15, saying, “Rejoice…

One of the things that we Southerners pride ourselves in is hospitality. I still remember not long after moving to Mississippi, I was out house hunting and was going to see a for-sale-buy-owner house over in Bailey. They were friends of a church member. And not only did they show me their house, they insisted…

Edmund Vance Cooke once published around 100 years ago some of the saddest, fatalistic lines of poetry you’ll ever hear. He wrote, This life’s a hollow bubble, Just a painted piece of trouble, We come to earth to cry, We grow older and we sigh, Older still, and then we die! What a hopeless piece…

Are you a competitive person? I used to really struggle with that so badly when I was younger, but I’ve mellowed out a little bit in my 40s. Nevertheless, I can still find myself wanting so badly to win at whatever I’m doing. For those of us who are competitive, Apostle Paul suggests a more…

NEWS FLASH: You are not the end-all, be-all. And neither am I. We as individuals can’t do it all. That’s true in life, but that’s especially true in church life. Some wise coach once said, “There’s no i in team.” Every single person is needed. For that reason, Apostle Paul encourages us in Romans 12…

Jesus essentially told us John 17 that we are to be in the world but not of the world. In other words, we as Christians have to live in the world and amongst the world. I mean, where else are we going to live? But we should not be of the world, which is to…

Who’s the smartest person you know? How about the wisest? Are they the same person? Sometimes wisdom and knowledge don’t come in the same person. You ever met somebody who’s really intelligent but has no common sense? But here in the book Romans, chapter 11, we see that God is that total package. He’s both…

Do you love a good mystery? I do. Sherlock Holmes, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, all classic mystery characters that people have so loved over the years. Oh, and who could forget the Mystery Incorporated crew from Scooby-Doo! As we turn to Romans 11, Apostle Paul addresses a mystery. Perhaps it’s…

Arrogance is one of the ugliest things in the world. Do you know somebody who looks down on others and thinks that they are better than other people? It’s a common thing in the world, but sadly, we can find it among church people as well. Too often we are like the Pharisee in the…

I was talking recently about how one of the things that makes mercy mercy is the fact that God doesn’t have to give it. And in Romans 11, we see an instance where instead of mercy, He gave the judgment that was deserved. He didn’t have to give them mercy, and He didn’t. We read…