As Scripture instructs, we must be adults in our understanding. But we must also cultivate what Luke records in the books of Acts when he says that the early Christians ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart. We may be refreshed with both maturity and simplicity when we come to understand the water …
Dead Men
In the Word of God, we are summoned to approach the throne of grace with great boldness. The early apostles, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, dominated by Him completely, preached the Word with great boldness. The apostle Paul, after many years of apostolic ministry, had, as one of his prayer requests, the …
Fair and Unfair
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 51 One difficult aspect of learning to operate your own business is the lesson of learning how to take your lumps. In dealing with the general public, a customer’s reactions will often be out of proportion when considered in the …
A Few Tattered Rags
Not only must the Church throw down idols, but the Church is called to throw down idols using God’s appointed instruments for doing so. We are to pull them all from their marble pedestals, but what ropes are we to use? In the apostolic era, the word of God was preached with great boldness, and …
Not To Decide
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 50 Now if you get more of what you subsidize, and less of what you penalize, then what follows from this? In our egalitarian age, one of the favorite responses to any intrusions of reality is to revolt against them. …
False Peace With False Gods
God has assigned a task to the Church in the world, and that task is to throw down all idols, and to establish the right worship of God throughout the earth, from the River to the ends of the earth. But looking around, we have to come to grips with the fact that idolatry in …
More of What You Subsidize
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 49 One of the fundamental laws of life, and therefore of business, is that you get more of what you subsidize, and less of what you penalize. In every social context, certain behaviors are rewarded (in some way), and other …
Little Ones in the Heavenly Courts
This morning the exhortation is for a particular (and very important) part of our congregation—the little ones. I want to begin by asking all the children who are eight-years-old and younger to pay close attention. Step out in the aisle if you need to, or stand on your chair, or have your mom or dad …
Lower Half of the Class
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 48 My father-in-law likes to joke that fifty percent of all doctors graduated in the lower half of their class at med school. And if there were a school that all businessmen and retail merchants had to graduate from, then …
Thinking Outside the Cliche
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) Growing Dominion, Part 47 Those who are interested in improving their performance in business will find no shortage of books offering to help along the way. The American market is glutted with “guru management” books of all kinds. Those who are interested in …