That smells good!

Saturday evening we pulled back into our garage after a two-week vacation. And as soon as we opened the van doors, we could tell something had happened while we were gone — and the first thought was that the cat had brought an “offering” to us and that sacrifice was decaying in a hidden place. […]

Comfort from God

The obvious theme of the opening verses of 2 Corinthians 1 is the comfort of God: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in […]

There are many adversaries

My family and I are on vacation in the mountains this week. One of the things we’ve been doing most days is taking hikes up and down the hills in our area. We start at around 7500 feet (where our accommodations are) and go up. And down. And up again. And down for a while. […]

Be steadfast

I like baseball. I have for as long as I can remember. I’ve suffered through four decades of mediocre baseball following my favorite team, the Texas Rangers, before they qualified twice for the World Series (without, alas, the victor’s rings). I’ve acquired thousands and thousands of baseball cards. I still reach first for the sports […]

Understanding New Testament Tongues

While in seminary, I took a required Greek course on 1 Corinthians. As part of the requirement for the course we had to right position papers on three topics that were prominent in the Corinthian church and letter: divorce and remarriage, the role of women in the church, and the sign gifts. The thinking of […]

Tests of love

1 Corinthians 13 is probably read publicly most often in wedding services. When I plan those services with engaged couples, I can almost predict with certainty when I ask, “What passages would you like to have read at the service,” that they will invariably respond with dreamy-eyed glances at each other, “1 Corinthians 13.” And […]

Learning to number our days

According to the latest statistics from the Social Security Administration, I have 29.84 years left to live. That leaves me with approximately 10,899 more days, which sounds like quite a few until you consider that I’ve already lived 18,195 days. By statistical probability, my life is well more than half over, and I am rapidly […]

Questions about spiritual gifts

In most Bible-believing and Bible-teaching churches, we are well-acquainted with the Biblical teaching on spiritual gifts (e.g., 1 Corinthians 12). We understand that there are various gifts and various results from those gifts (vv. 4-5) and that God is sovereign over both the giving of the gifts and the effectiveness of the gifts (vv. 6-7). […]

The significance of communion

What is so important about communion? Or is it important? Every month we take time to eat a little piece of bread and drink a tiny cup of juice, and we say that it is an important and significant act of worship. Is it? We know that not only do the gospel writers provide accounts […]

An example and a hope

The Old Testament can sometimes seem obscure and difficult to understand. There are all the laws, sacrifices, and festivals in the Pentateuch that often seem quite disconnected from where and how we live, then there are some weird stories in the historical books (e.g., Judges 19 and 21), and it all culminates in the prophets […]

Running rules

I’m not a runner. (I’ve long said that my body is built for comfort, not speed!) But there is a kind of running that I must do and that all believers must do. We run the race of the Christian life (1 Cor. 9:24-27) — that is, we labor and work in the Christian life […]

A question of liberty

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul explains the issue of liberty and freedom for the Christian — when is it permissible to exercise a freedom and when should practicing a liberty be avoided? There are numerous questions to answer in determining whether or not to use one’s liberty, and I thought it helpful to make it […]

A day in God’s courts

Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 84 and the joys of worship with the Lord. This is a fitting meditation to prepare us for worship this morning: This Psalm well deserved to be committed to the noblest of the sons of song. No music could be too sweet for its theme, or too exquisite in sound to […]

Four reasons for the unmarried to consider singleness

There are more people than ever in America who are living as singles. Yet even in the American church, while there are more opportunities for singles to serve in minister, there still seems to be a stigma that is attached to being single. So what’s a single person to do? Biblically, singles are free both […]

What has changed?

Transformation isn’t always readily or immediately apparent. Go to a new car lot and it may be hard to tell the difference between the 2012 and 2011 models. But underneath the hood, there are likely to be significant improvements. Or when looking on a store shelf and seeing the label “new and improved” affixed to […]