God’s book begins with a miracle: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”-Genesis 1:3. The mighty works of God litter the pages of the Old and New Testaments: The plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-12), the Red Sea (Exodus 14), Joseph (Genesis 41) and Daniel (Daniel 2) were given power to interpret… Read More »
Practicing Sin Is Demonic
As a minister, you never want to minimize sin. Sin brought death into the world. Sin cost God his one and only Son. Sin put a guiltless Jesus on the cross. Without a proper understanding of sin, you are incapable of grasping the gospel. I find myself divided between two kinds of lessons on the… Read More »
God From Three Verses
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”-Genesis 1:1-3 I was reading a… Read More »
Apostasy, Prophesy, and Restoration
Growing up the son of a deacon in the 13th and Main congregation in Blytheville, Arkansas, I heard many a sermon about “the great apostasy” prophesied by the Holy Spirit. The gist of the lessons was this: The church was built the way God, through Jesus, desired it. The Holy Spirit gave perfect instruction. The… Read More »
A Sword Or A Shield?
Thanks to the wonders of autoplay, I found myself listening to a podcast with which I was unfamiliar. The algorithm at least understood I like to listen to things with the words “church” and “Christ” in the title. When the host announced the title of the show as, “Why You Can Trust Your Bible?” I… Read More »
I Did Not Know How To Have Faith
In June of 1987, I found myself in the Panama City Rescue Mission with one day left before I would be back on the street. The mission only housed you at night. After breakfast, you had to leave until six o’clock in the evening when dinner was served and you could check in for the… Read More »
The Word Of God Is A Blessing
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”-Hebrews 4:12 What would the Christian church be without the word of God? Certainly, much of the religious world… Read More »
Confusing And Confusinger
Allow me to offer a gentle reminder as we begin: “The word of God says what it says.” As we examine I Peter 3:18-20, we may vary on the meaning of the passage, but we are bound to agree on the words. What does this section of Scripture actually say? “For Christ…being put to death… Read More »
Funeral For A Friend
Editor’s note: I am screaming as I write this. Forgive me if it goes astray.-JS She was twenty-years younger than me. She could have been my daughter. I preached her funeral Thursday. There are still tears in my eyes. What a beautiful child. Not perfect but a Christian. She was raised in the church and… Read More »