The Parable of the Older Brother

In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus tells three parables about lost things. They are usually called the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Jesus tells of a shepherd with 100 sheep who, losing one, seeks and finds it, and rejoices.  He tells of a woman with 10 coins who, losing one, seeks and finds it, and rejoices. Then he describes a man with two sons who loses one, the younger, to the allure of unearned wealth and reckless living. After squandering all, this son…

As he opens his first letter, the apostle Peter writes this about our salvation in Christ:

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the…

“Worship” is the English translation of the Greek word proskuneo, to make obeisance, do reverence.  The word is comprised of pros, meaning toward; and kuneo, to kiss.  Thus it means to lean toward God to pay homage.  Our word is from Middle English worshipe, worthy of praise or honor.  You can see the word worthy in our word worship.  

One of the major reasons for the assembly on the Lord’s Day is to worship God, to pay to Him honor and reverence.  I have chosen just a few of the many things necessary to render to Him the kind of…

A Calm and Quiet Soul

Psalm 131 “O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” – a Psalm of David

After the last game of the regular season, all the players whose parents signed them up to be on the Little League All-Star Baseball Team…

“Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9).

This simple instruction raises the question: Why would extending hospitality involve the danger of “complaining” or “grumbling”?

Because hospitality can be messy. Carpets or couches may get stained. Furniture or walls may get dinged. Dishes or knick-knacks may get broken. When you open your home to others, there’s probably going to be something to clean up afterward.

Because hospitality comes at a cost. It costs money — for food, or (in the case of overnight…

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves”(Matt 23:15).

In this chapter of woes to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus is sharply critical of their evangelistic efforts. It is not their zeal that is the problem—they are willing to “travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte”—but their approach. As disciples of Jesus, we learn here how evangelism goes wrong and where our efforts must improve.

Evangelism goes wrong when we…

It’s All About Perspective

There were these two young fish swimming along and they happened to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swam on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looked over at the other and goes “What in the world is water?” In David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement speech to the graduating class at Kenyon College, he began his speech with this anecdote to explain that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are…

In Ezekiel 37 the prophet records a vision from God. In the vision, he was transported to a valley and saw that it was full of human bones. God had Ezekiel walk among them; everywhere he looked were dead, dry bones.

God asked, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

The natural answer would of course be, “No!” But Ezekiel, familiar as he was with God and His power, answered, “Lord God, only You know.”

God told Ezekiel to prophesy: “Thus says the Lord God to these…

Have you sinned? Do you feel guilty about it? What are you going to do about that?

You could try…

• Adam’s solution: Blame someone else (Genesis 3:11-12).
• Aaron’s solution: Claim that it “just happened” and that you were hardly involved (Exodus 32:21-24).
• Saul’s solution: Try to rationalize and justify your motives (1 Samuel 15:1-15).
• David’s solution: Cover it up (2 Samuel 11).
• Ahab’s solution: Attack those who are doing right in order to deflect attention from yourself…

Most books become obsolete very quickly. New, updated editions are produced. After ten or twenty years, they lose their influence. Soon the copyright is not renewed and they go out of print. In such a climate, how is it possible for a book that is 2000 years old to remain relevant? What is its secret?

The writer of Hebrews makes an extended argument from a part of the Bible that is even older. He looks back to Psalm 95—which looks back to the even older story of Israel’s wilderness wandering and the conquest of Canaan. He makes observations about the rest…