God is serious about His name. He always has been and always will be. When He punished Israel for bringing idols out of Egypt, He later explained His actions by saying, “But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.” (Ezekiel 20:9, NASB) In His commandments given to Moses, who in turn gave them to Israel, God…

Reading scripture in a less than careful way can lead to many erroneous conclusions.  For example, some have read Peter’s instructions to the wives of unbelieving husbands and concluded that a person may be won to Christ apart from the word of God.  Let’s take a close look at what Peter wrote to see if that is a correct understanding:

1 Peter 3:1  “Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the…

Romans 8:26 (ESV)  “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

     Have you ever felt like this? So overwhelmed or sad or depressed, that you don’t even know where to begin your prayer? The Spirit of our Lord knows our hearts and can understand our despair, without us even uttering a word. But sometimes we can neglect…

In Acts 16:14 Luke records:

“A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”

   This language is sometimes understood to support the Calvinistic doctrine of the direct operation of the Holy Spirit.  It is affirmed that man, because he is born…

It is not uncommon today to hear older Christians who have already reared their children comment somberly in the presence of young prospective parents, “I certainly wouldn’t want to be bringing up children in times like these.”  It may be innocently done, but it is not helpful. These already anxious young people do not have a choice of times in which to rear children. For them, it is now or never.

Candidly, from the short term perspective, these are certainly not the best…

One of the things that constantly impresses me about the study of the Old Testament is the imagery that God has preserved to grant his children understanding in the relationship that we share.  I have always thought on judgment day, that the presence of the Lord would be such an awesome sight, that no one would be capable of standing to offer an excuse for any rebellious mishap in their life.  If standing in the presence of the Lord would be possible, then the Lord would simply reveal the countless opportunities…

Wash Your Nets !

     Luke 5:1-11 records an incident in the life of Jesus which occurred on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.  Most people remember this as the time when Jesus’ apostles caught so many fish, that their ships nearly sank.

     There is another, rather incidental, detail in the story.  In verse 2 Luke says that Simon and the others were washing their nets.  What is significant about this?  Simply that they had…

John Owen was an influential Puritan preacher in the 17^th century.  Consider what he wrote concerning acceptable worship:

Question:  What doth God require of us in our dependence on him, that he may be glorified by us, and we accepted with him?

Answer:    That we worship him in and by the ways of his own appointment.

Question:  How are the ways and means of the worship of God made known  

The claim that Jesus was raised from the dead is the most vital point in the Bible. Without it, Christianity is a waste of time (1 Cor 15:12-19). It is important that we know why we should believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, because there are many theories that try to counteract the resurrection story.

One theory holds that the disciples of Jesus stole the body from the tomb. This is actually the oldest theory because it dates back to the…

It has been said that a virtue in excess is a vice…. Examples:

• Discerning to the point of believing everything you think (evil surmising) –   Mt. 7:1-2; 1Tim. 6:4
• Benevolent to the point of poverty of your own family – I Tim. 5:8
• Tolerant to the point of over-looking wrong – Gal. 6:1
• Agreeable to the point of having no convictions – Acts…