Delight Psalm 1 is so appropriate for all of the Psalms. It sets everything in the proper order, beginning with, “Blessed is the man who…” and then lists three negatives in verse 1 alone. But then he comes to verse 2 where the key word is delight. I would ask, do you delight in God’s […]
A father’s love It has been said that the fruit of the Spirit is love, and the seven attributes of that love are…joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That is one way to interpret Galatians 5.22-23. Same might be said about the attributes of a father’s love for his children and family. In […]
“Follow me” One of my favorite hymns is Lift High the Cross. It is a 19th century English Christian hymn. It was written in 1887 by George Kitchin and revised in 1916 by Michael R. Newbolt. It is based on Matthew 16:24. ‘Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and […]
NEW Ring out the old and ring in the NEW! We greet each other with Happy NEW Year. Everyone loves something new. A new start, new pair of shoes, a new job, you name it. In Christ, scripture teaches us that we are a new creation, a new creature. “The old has passed away; behold the new has […]
The effect of a father What we are observing today is a steady decline in morality, ethics, mental health, both personal and in corporate life. To me, it matches the decline in the impact that the church is having on our society. The young people, especially, are turning away from anything to do with the […]
A prophecy fulfilled In the prayer that the Lord taught his disciples to pray, it begins– “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” So, Bill, why did you title this “thy kingdom came”? No, it’s not a typo. Let’s walk through this together. The Old Testament is full of prophecies about Jesus, […]
Hardships of Job and Paul In the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Teth, in Psalm 119, we see an amazing thing. Most of us like to believe that God does not inflict anything on us but that everything that happens, especially negative, is caused by others or the evil one. We saw in Job […]
Old Testament Jewish marriage Let’s examine a Jewish marriage in the Old Testament. It’s not like the western culture; meet the girl, fall in love, maybe ask her father for her hand in marriage, provide an engagement ring and have a wedding at some point. Conversely, the father of the son selects what he believes […]
Serve the Lord Why would Peter’s mother-in-law do this? Well, it says she had received healing from Jesus at her home. “He touched her hand, and the fever left her” (vs. 15a). Wouldn’t you be moved to serve someone that had provided healing for you, physically, emotionally or spiritually? I can’t pass this up. He […]
Proclaim the gospel As Joanne and I were worshiping today, the thought came to me; we are being preached the word, we are gathered for fellowship and worship, and we leave; for what purpose? As we walk out of the church or the sanctuary, are we just feeling good about ourselves, clean, mentally checking off […]