When George H. W. Bush was President of the United States, he made a visit to a Virginia elementary school. And although he was introduced as the President and was surrounded by his Secret Service detail, one skeptical third grader refused to believe that Bush really was who he said he was. How do you […]
Read More “Who Do People Say That I AM?”“The Training of the Twelve” Pt. 2Luke 9:12-17December 21, 2025 Christmas brings anticipation of many good and encouraging things. We anticipate worship (Christmas Eve), and music (the Messiah!), and fellowship, and reconnection with friends who have moved away, and time with family. And yet there is also the conundrum of the gifts. What do we […]
Read More The Training of the Twelve, Pt. 2“The Training of the Twelve” Pt. 1Luke 9:1-11December 14, 2025 It’s Christmas season. And there is a common question being asked these days: “Do we have enough?” E.g., Do we have enough food? Do we have enough cookies? Do we have enough gifts? Do we have enough decorations (lights on the house, tinsel on […]
Read More The Training of the Twelve, Pt. 1“The Tale of Two ‘Daughters’”Luke 8:40-56November 30, 2025 Pain is universal. Suffering is common. Illness, though frequent and normal, often surprises us. Death is one out of one. We recoil against all of these. And God uses pain, illness, and death to sanctify us. Samuel Rutherford wrote that believers should “praise God for the […]
Read More The Tale of Two “Daughters”“The Son of Man, Demons, and Rejection”Luke 8:26-39November 23, 2025 We have an enemy. He is intelligent — “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (Js. 2:18). He is strong — “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm […]
Read More The Son of Man, Demons, and Rejection“Jesus, in the Storms of Life”Luke 8:22-25November 2, 2025 Call it what you want — affliction, calamity, difficulty, disaster, disease, hardship, horror, illness/sickness, pain, persecution, suffering, tragedy, trial, trouble — life is filled with events and circumstances that seem contrary to us. It has always been that way, the Bible is filled with it: Murder […]
Read More Jesus, in the Storms of Life“How is Your Hearing?” Pt. 2Luke 8:16-21October 26, 2025 I have some tools in my workshop and some more in our kitchen that need some attention: My air compressor hose has a leak at the joint where the tool connects. The tools still work, but while I’m working there is a constant sound of […]
Read More How is Your Hearing? Pt. 2“How is Your Hearing?”Luke 8:4-15October 12, 2025 One of the phrases a parent uses most often is “listen to me…” Parents use that phrase with distracted three-year-olds and impatient 17-year-olds. They use it when they are teaching, when they are correcting, when they are encouraging, and when they are warning. It’s a useful, and well-used, […]
Read More How is Your Hearing?“The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses”Luke 8:1-3September 28, 2025 One of my favorite sections in the Bible is Deuteronomy 7:7-8 — “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of […]
Read More The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses“The Friend of Sinners”Luke 7:36-50September 21, 2025 The Bible is filled with deeply profound statements — life-changing statements. You know many of them and have been guided and helped by them. It is a temptation for us to say, “this is the most important statement in the Bible” or “this is the most important statement […]
Read More The Friend of Sinners“Should We Look for Someone Else?” Part 2Luke 7:24-35September 14, 2025 Doubt is a reality of life. Even in the life of the believer. Abraham doubted that God would preserve him and his marriage when they were with Abimelech Abraham and Sarah both (initially) doubted that God could produce an heir through their aging bodies […]
Read More “Should We Look for Someone Else?” Pt. 2“Should We Look for Someone Else?”Luke 7:18-30September 7, 2025 Apologist Randy Newman wrote an open letter to believers in Christ who struggle with doubt: Sometimes doubt comes upon me like a foreboding cold. I wonder if that was just a sneeze or am I coming down with something serious. The sniffles of doubt increase when […]
Read More “Should We Look for Someone else?”“The Compassionate Son of Man”Luke 7:11-17August 17, 2025 Death is something that is often joked about (or not really taken seriously): Groucho Marx was frequently asked what he’d like people to be saying about him in a hundred years: “I know what I’d like them to say about me…I’d like them to say, ‘He […]
Read More The Compassionate Son of Man“A Faithful and Worthy Man”Luke 7:1-10August 10, 2025 Last Sunday was a special day for us — a humbling and gratifying day. We are thankful. Leading up to the day, and even during the dinner and recognition, I couldn’t help but think about one of my mentors, J. Dwight Pentecost, who participated in my installation […]
Read More A Faithful and Worthy Man“Jesus Teaches”Luke 6:20-49July 27, 2025 Jesus Christ is the Son of Man. That is a title that denotes His position as both God and Man. He is the fulfillment of the promise in Daniel 7:13-14 — the One who is given authority over all things by God the Father (the Ancient of Days). As the […]
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Words of Grace 