“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown …
Two Kinds of Christian?
Surveying the Text: 1 Thessalonians
Introduction Thessalonica was a principal city in Macedonia, the region that was the home of Philip and the great Alexander. This letter was written around 50 A.D. which would make it, with the exception of Galatians, the earliest record of Paul’s writing. While the Jews in Berea were more noble than the Jews in Thessalonica …
Wood From Outside
What does true Christian community look like? We have a snapshot in the early chapters of Acts, in the weeks and months following Pentecost. Let us leave out of the discussion those things that marked the epochal change from the Judaic aeon to the Christian aeon—the mighty rushing wind, the reversal of Babel in the …
A Musical Meal
As we come to this meal, there are a number of things we do together. We sit, we reflect, we observe, we take and eat, we take and drink, and we love one another. This is a meal of covenant partaking, and the Greek word that sums up that partaking, that sharing, that blending, is …
Is Church to be a Safe Space?
In answering the question posed by the title, let me begin by saying yes and no. The contingent response depends on a number of factors. Safe from what? How safe? What tools may we use to establish that safety? Yes, of course, we should take every lawful precaution to keep the church safe — safe …
And Not a Minute Longer
“The orator, of all men, should know when he is through, and should stop when he is through” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 137).
Poverty Camouflage
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them …
Surveying the Text: 2 Peter
Introduction In his first epistle, Peter is equipping his readers for the persecution that will soon be upon them. In this letter, he is equipping his readers to deal with the problem of licentious false teachers. The Text: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, …
Savior of the World #6
Introduction: The gloomy old reprobate Ambrose Bierce said this about the book of Revelation: “A famous book in which St. John the Divine concealed all that he knew. The revealing is done by the commentators, who know nothing.” It is indeed unfortunate that we by our sloth have made a revelation into one of the …