Posts from November 2022

  Ray Steadman was a famous preacher and author from California.  He passed away in 1992 and at his request on his tombstone in Grants Pass, Oregon, are engraved these words: “He was a faithful steward.” As a noted author Ray had received many accolades during his lifetime, but he wanted to be remembered as simply a servant who faithfully dispensed God’s glorious truth to God’s people.  That seems to be the same sentiment of Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:1:…

                 Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. – Vesta Kelly                  There can be union without unity: tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline.  – Unknown                  Unity is a common theme throughout the Bible.  It is something that can be seen as extremely important to God.  As Paul opens his letter to the church at Corinth,…

                 Remember the board game Memory?  It had a bunch of tiles all with the same artwork on the back and a different picture on the front.  There were always two of each picture.  To play, all the tiles were laid face down in any order, and on your turn, you had to turn over two tiles.  If they matched, you got to keep the tiles and go again.  If they didn’t, it was the next person’s turn.  You…

                 There seems to be a lot of discussion (or controversy) in our country about social class “privilege”.  A lot of people voice their opinions nowadays that it is unfair that some people are born into situations that are very beneficial materially, where some are not.  While it may be true that we are all born into different situations (a debate can be had as to if that is unfair), we are all on common ground with the fact…

                                             “Baptism”, a word that derives from the Greek word, baptizo, means so much.  Baptizo, in Greek, means “to immerse,” yet Romans 6 brings baptizo to life so much more.  For instance, in verse 3, where Paul asks the question: “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?”  The sin of…

                                 I have been watching some of the old Twilight Zone episodes on Netflix, so I’m writing this paragraph in my best Rod Serling (the narrator of The Twilight Zone) voice:                “Imagine if you will…” an auditorium, much like the one at Woodlawn.  There are two sides and a central aisle to walk down.  On one side of the auditorium, sit the Jews of the 1st century, a people who…

                 It’s interesting to see Paul’s relationship with Julius in Acts 27.  As a Roman centurion, Julius was charged with delivering Paul and his fellow prisoners to Rome and helping them to have safe passage.  At the beginning of the chapter, when the Adramyttium boat lands at Sidon, Julius has such a strong relationship with Paul that he allows Paul (even though he is a prisoner) to go visit his friends that were there and receive care from them. …

                  Secular Roman historians tell us that during the Julio-Claudian period, Roman law protected Roman citizens who invoked this special right called ad caesarem provoco  (I appeal to Caesar). This right was ordinarily invoked only as a resource against an unfair sentence so Roman citizens who were guilty of murder or pirates caught in the act, were barred from making this legal appeal. And it was reserved that for full-fledged Roman citizens, common Roman subjects, would never try to invoke…

    “And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” (Acts 23:1).  I am not sure we fully understand the gravity of the situation that Paul was in as he stood before the Council.  As he is being accused of being an apostle, anti-Jewish and a man that associates with the unclean Gentiles, he boldly stands before them to defend himself.  First of all,…

                  Once we develop a routine of studying the Scriptures daily to ensure that what we are hearing in our churches is in fact, from the Word of God, it is possible that we might have a situation where someone is teaching something in error; if that is the case, how are we to approach it?  Again, the Bible is such a wonderful tool from God, that it gives us an example of such a situation in the very…

                  As someone who often speaks in public, I have been guilty of combining two words to create a new one. One time I could not decide between the words “dramatically” and “drastically”, so it came out “dramastically”.  That was over 20 years ago, and my wife still remembers the time I created my own word.  In doing some research on this passage, I came across another example of someone trying to take two words to create a new…

                    Several years ago, the band Chumbawamba (Yes…that is the band’s actual name), released a song that had some very catchy lyrics.  The song was entitled, “Tubthumping” (Yes…that is the song’s actual title).  Now, I cannot endorse the language of the song, nor can I endorse what the song is encouraging, however, there is one phase that just keeps getting repeated over and over and over, “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never…