Right now, there is a lot of discussion going on in this country about the qualities that a person must possess to be an effective arbiter of justice.  Looking at a person’s past, and prognosticating what their future character might be, weighing those things next to the benefit of age and experience, all help us to decide how they might exercise their ordained authority.

Whether or not we approve of the manner in which these discussions are happening, the discussions themselves are vitally important, if we believe that God’s ways are truly better for all humans.  Furthermore, they should encourage us…

Self Confidence or Hunger for God? Some folks get so full of themselves that they never hunger for God. In fact, they put themselves in the place of God in order to fill their own desires. No matter how much … Read More →

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When we look at God’s laws, we can see the ethical demands that He put on His people, requiring that their behavior was not damaging to others. (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:8-10)  However, we can sometimes forget that there are two elements of sin.  There is the offense against the other human that fails to love them as ourselves.  More importantly, however, there is also the failure to love God in obedience. (Deuteronomy 6:1-8)  When we sin, we not only hurt others, but we hurt our relationship with God.

Joseph was aware of this concept when he was put in a tempting…

It is amazing how often children, when being chided or reprimanded, will point to the actions or the errors of another child for justification of their behavior.  Somehow, in their mind, their guilt is lessened by someone else doing something just as bad or worse.  Perhaps this shouldn’t be a surprise to us, as we so often do the same.

David was certainly a man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), and he was the standard by which all subsequent kings of Judah were compared (I Kings 3:3; 15:3; II Kings 22:2; II Chronicles 34:2), but he was…

The account of Israel’s devastating loss at Ai due to Achan’s error is one that bears repeating.  Not only was the army defeated easily by a small force from a small town, but about 36 soldiers died, and it felt as though God had abandoned the people.  After Joshua addressed the sin in the camp, and the people were prepared to follow God completely, He gave them a specific battle plan.  They were to leverage the pride of the people of Ai, luring them out into the open and then attack from the rear, then attack from the rear flanks,…

When we consider the kinds of mothers that are celebrated on days like today, we might not think of those who gave their children up for adoption.  However, one of the best examples of loving, godly motherhood did just about the equivalent of that.  She even did so after a great deal of prayer for a child.  Her name is Hannah.

When we consider what qualities reflect our modern values of motherhood, they are hard to identify in Hannah.  She was the second wife of a priest in Ephraim and was treated terribly by her rival, specifically because for a long…

I think we can all admit that sin is a problem, even among those who are trying to obey God.  The question comes down to how do we keep it from happening so often, and to such a great extent.  The good news is that we have a few examples in scripture of how people sought to prevent breaking of God’s law, and how that ultimately worked out.

The solution employed by the Pharisees was to extend what constituted sin outward from the actual command to prevent any real transgression.  Many bible scholars and preachers have referred to them building a…

Is it just me or does it seem like we’re inventing holidays just so we have something interesting to share on social media?  My profile picture is getting stale, it must be time for a new holiday that will dictate what kind of banner I can add to my page.

It seems like they have a holiday for everything nowadays.  Most of the new ones they are introducing seems a bit silly to those people who have been around for a while and remember the way it “used to be.”  However, holidays in this country are a sign of what we…

It seems to me that so much of modern concern is for niche communities or customers that we feel we must make a special appeal to every possible demographic to be relevant.  This thinking can sometimes pervade the church, and we must create a special “ministry” for every part of life.  This, of course, downplays the universal application of scripture and the nature of scripture.  However, there are certain situations to which the apostles and prophets pay attention and it would do us well to see what they say about specific modes of life.

I am not going to downplay the…

To deal with ballooning inflation rates, recently Venezuela tried to deal with the problem by removing 5 zeros from the ends of its bolívar notes, which is the national currency.  The socialist country is experiencing such deep financial woes, to purchase a cup of coffee takes near 2 million bolívars.  This problem is primarily due to the country’s solution to dealing with financial woes in recent years has been to print more money, but not improve the economy on the whole, thus causing hyperinflation. There is no real increase in value.

Since all value in our physical world is assigned by…