Jesus concludes the portion of His Sermon on the Mount on anxiety with the following from Matthew 6:33-34, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” These words are among the most comforting, yet most challenging words that Jesus spoke. He was speaking to people that were concerned about the base necessities of life and directed them to a higher purpose, to seek first the kingdom…

In the Time in Which the Judges Ruled

The time in which the judges ruled was not a good time for God’s people.  A study through the book of Judges is a discouraging study.  For much of the period, Israel was mired in idolatry and subject to the ravages of the surrounding pagans.  When they turned back to God and He gave them judges who led them to military victories, these leaders were often deeply flawed.  Things get so bad that one tribe is almost obliterated by the others, and then reconstituted in a deeply immoral way (Judges 20, 21).  Among…

Bible Accuracy

One of the truly amazing facts about Bible history is the phenomenal accuracy that characterizes the text.  Take, for example, Luke’s two New Testament documents, Luke and Acts.  These books combined constitute more than a quarter of the bulk of the New Testament. Within these narratives the author is very specific with reference to historical data including persons, places, and titles. 

In the book of Acts, Luke mentions 32 countries, 54 cities, and 9 Mediterranean islands.  He also lists 95 people by name, 62 of which are not named elsewhere in the New Testament (Bruce Metzger, The New Testament: Its…

    In one of my all-time favorite novels, Jayber Crow, the title character believes he’s received the lofty call to preach the Gospel. Unfortunately, Jayber’s idea of preaching is limited to “spending a lot of time reading and living in a town with shady streets and being well-loved and admired by the congregation.” When he inevitably finds out how flawed his conception of preaching is, he quits his ministry before it even begins and pivots to a career in barbering.

    I think Jayber’s initial conception of preaching, while almost laughably shallow, might be the dominant one in our culture. Many…

The Sixth Commandment

“Thou shalt not kill.”  Exodus 20:13 is often cited as a prohibition of homicide in all circumstances, which is patently absurd given the multiple crimes with mandatory death penalties under the Law of Moses.  In fact, this is sometimes pointed to by skeptics as a “contradiction” in the Bible.  So what does this passage actually mean?  What is being prohibited, why is it wrong, and what broader principles are there here for us to learn?

As we have previously noted, this passage may not be read as a prohibition of the taking of human life in all cases, because…

The Best is Yet to Come

There was a young woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So, as she was getting her things in order, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, which scriptures she would like read, and which outfit she wanted to be buried in. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman suddenly remembered something very important…

    In Kenya, it is not uncommon for children to walk many miles to school. However, some do not lollygag around—they run! Why? Well, a reporter at the Sydney Olympics may have inadvertently stumbled upon the answer as he questioned Kenyan Kip Lagat. He wanted to know how Kenya kept producing so many great distance runners. Did it have something to do with their training? Lagat replied with a tongue-in-cheek laugh, “It’s the road signs: ‘Beware of lions!’” 

    My mom used to warn me about strangers. Do you think a Kenyan mother tells her children, as she hands them their…

    Have you been to the funeral home? Does your car break down? Has anything ever been stolen from you? Do you ever get sick? Have you had the frustration of buying something, and it quit working the day after the warranty expired?

    All of these questions illustrate one truth: this world is a decaying, rotting, disintegrating place in which to live. No matter how hard one tries, things still break, robbers continue stealing, and people still die. This world is, quite literally, going down the drain.

    Amazingly, mankind chooses to ignore the obvious. What many people seek the most,…

The Bride of Christ

Marriage is universal and timeless. The ancient world knew marriage just as modern man does, and even in cultures foreign to us the ceremony may look strange, but marriage itself remains a constant.

It is no wonder, then, that Jesus uses marriage as an example of the relationship between himself and the church. Since marriage is so timeless, all generations can understand how we relate to Christ and how Christ relates to us in a very tangible way.

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, draws a parallel between marriage and the relationship between Christ and the church in Ephesians 5:22-33.

The…

When Comfort Becomes a Master

Sometimes it’s dangerous to find ourselves being too comfortable in our life. May sound strange because most of us spend a great deal of life trying to become more comfortable. We want financial stability, peaceful homes, easier schedules, fewer problems, better health, and less stress. None of those things are wrong by themselves. In fact, many of them are blessings. But blessings can quietly become our masters. Comfort becomes dangerous when it starts deciding what we will obey, what we will sacrifice, what we will avoid, and how far we are willing to follow God. It…