“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim. 1:15, ESV).

    Imagine what a comfort that was to Paul. According to 1 Timothy 1:13, he had been a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. According to Romans 7:8, his major downfall was covetousness of every kind. According to Exodus 20:17, the kinds of covetousness include coveting your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s servants, your neighbor’s goods, even your neighbor’s wife. Despite being a Pharisee and even blameless (Phil. 3:6), Paul knew his own…

Is God Dead?  An Answer in Song Form!

One of my personal favorite hymns we sing at church is “Our God He Is Alive.” I like this hymn for many reasons. The message reminds us that God exists and He plays an active part in our lives, while also being a good summary of the story of the whole Bible. But when I learned the background behind it, I appreciated it even more. “Our God He Is Alive” was written by Aaron Wesley Dicus in 1966, the same year Time magazine published a cover story titled, “Is God Dead?” In the…

    What Jesus is, is what we need. If we need anything at all in our lives, we need someone to lead us. We need a guide, a shepherd to show us where we ought to go and how to get there. Jesus affirmed that He is that guide, when He said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).

    To understand the context wherein Jesus made this statement, we must drop back to the previous chapter, where we are introduced to a blind man. Two notable things happened to the blind man in John 9. First, he received his sight…

Tax Collector or Pharisee

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee:

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would…

    The weather is warming up.  Memorial Day is next Monday.  School is about to be out.  You know what that means?  The Southside Lectures are fast approaching!

    Five weeks away, to be exact.  That’s just hard for me to fathom.  This whole year has been a series of statements beginning with “I can’t believe it’s already ______.”  But it is.  And we can’t let the lectures sneak up on us or we’ll be unprepared for what is sure to be a spiritual feast.

    The dates this year are June 22-25, Monday through Thursday.  We have morning lectures (9:30, 10:30)…

    It’s hard losing your parents. You labor under the strain of not having told them more often that you love them. You remember all the things they did for you, and sit and wonder if you did much for them.

    I was home in Lubbock for the holidays a few years ago. Mom had insisted on making my favorite breakfast—biscuits and sawmill gravy. We had a fine time. As we drove away, she was still standing on the porch, waving. I somehow thought it might be the last time I would see her. She died the next month. She…

    God, after creating man in His own image, wanted to have a relationship with   him. Yet, for man to have a relationship with a holy God, he must first deny himself and come up to the level of God, and not try to bring God down to his level.  Only a holy and sinless God can set the terms of such a relationship. There are no negotiations!  Failing to sanctify God, both in our heart and actions, will always result in God being profaned! 

    The word profane means “Common, not sanctified or set apart.”  If I profane God by disobeying…

    We live in changing times, but that’s always been true. Society changes. Individuals change, sometimes for the better but also for the worse. It isn’t easy to put our trust in man because of this. It’s common to hear of adulterous relationships, leaving a heartbroken spouse and children. People can do horrible things to each other. We could easily list the ugliness perpetrated by individuals, but you get the idea. We’ve also experienced changes in our lives, some for good but some not so good.

    Fortunately, God never changes. Who He is right now is who He has always…

A Dwelling Place for the Mighty One

One of my favorite sections of the Psalms is Psalms 120-134, which are called the Psalms of Ascent. This set of Psalms was often sung by the Jews as they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem - specifically when they went up, or ascended, the mountain on which Jerusalem rests - thus they were named the Psalms of Ascents. Not only is it fascinating to read the thoughts of the people of God as they journeyed to the holy city, but I believe we, as people of God, can learn from them on our journey…

Don’t Forget the Meat

A friend of mine once said that the best sandwich is one that somebody else makes.  I think he’s right, because we now have a plethora of sandwich shops.  Tops among these is the submarine sandwich.  Who doesn’t love the freshly-baked bread, freshly-sliced meats and vegetables, all made by somebody else?  Let’s face it, there’s nothing on a submarine sandwich that you couldn’t make yourself, but it’s so much nicer when you don’t have to.

My wife likes Thundercloud Subs.  I don’t know what it is about them that she fancies.  Perhaps it’s the requirement that all employees…