Blog (Page 7)
The Theology of Rest (Part II)
We know that the commandment to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy came to the Israelites in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Before this, there was no commandment to the Israelites anywhere in the Bible to remember the Sabbath day, and to keep it holy. But I don’t want you to think that God introduced the concept of rest for the first time in Genesis, and he didn’t bring up the concept of rest, or more…
Entering the Sacred Throne Room of God
We are all taught that certain places where we show up demand some kind of proper etiquette in our behavior. Patty and I had the amazing opportunity over 20 years ago, to be tourist in Rome. Of course, we visited as many of the classic historical sites as possible… the Roman Colosseum, The Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, St Peters Basilica… But I looked forward the most to spend time at the Sistine Chapel. The room is surprisingly…
The Theology of Rest (Part I)
The Ten Commandments is one of the most recognizable sections in the Bible. I first heard about them when I was still a little boy. Hollywood even made a movie with the same title in 1956. But what if I were to tell you the words, “Ten Commandments” are not found anywhere in the Bible? It’s true. That is because in the three places where “Ten Commandments” appear in the Bible, it does not say, “Ten Commandments”, but “Ten Words”…
Spiritual Surgery
One of the few times I have ever been under a surgeon’s scalpel is when I was in High School, and I had a tonsillectomy (I hope I spelled this correctly!). I came down with a very bad throat and the doctor determined that my tonsils were the problem, and they had to come out. I know that many of you have had some pretty big surgeries in your life, and my tonsils just don’t compare to many of you,…
Knowing God: The God of REST
Knowing God: The God of REST When was the last time you thought to yourself… “I need a break!! I need some REST!… I need a VACATION!” If you are like me, when those cruise ship brochures come in the mail, or those vacation sales to nice warm sunny beaches arrive in my e-mail box, I like to look and dream a little. I think to myself how nice that would be to just relax with no cares and enjoy…
A Wilderness Experience: Off the grid living
A couple of years ago I bought a magazine about “off grid living.” I have always enjoyed that kind of thing as I have done a good bit of backpacking over the years. I love the mountains and I love figuring out how to make life work in a naturel setting. But as for the magazine, maybe I was considering moving off the grid, as it was during the covid lockdown time, and I thought to myself, “if I’m going…
A Very High View of Angels
In the opening chapter in the Book of Hebrews, the author wasted no time firing off on his agenda. He set out to begin to talk about angels right out of the gate. But he didn’t just begin to give a systematic theology on angels. His purpose was more specific than that. His main thesis was on how Christ is superior than the angels. Of the many directions he could have gone, it is remarkable to me the first thing…
Knowing God: Jesus is Superior to the Angels and the Ultimate Human
I have another Hollywood movie analogy for you this week… “Angels and Demons,” the 2009 film with Tom Hanks as the main character. Last week it was the Truman Show with Jim Carrey! What we know of Angels is usually from a Hollywood movie. (are you thinking to yourself… ‘Billy, you watch too many movies!” I actually did not see Angels and Demons as it looked too dumb for me – but don’t tell Tom Hanks!) This coming Sunday I…
A Most Deadly Theology
Do you know what is prosperity theology? You may not know the term, but you may already know the theology. Prosperity theology is sometimes also called the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, or the gospel of success. It is an unbiblical theology that says if a person becomes a Christian, it is God’s will for him to receive financial blessing, physical well-being, among other “prosperous” things. For the past two weeks, I was in Taiwan visiting my parents…
Knowing God: His Final Word
In the 1998 film, “The Truman Show,” that starred Jim Carrey, it was about a man Truman who thought he lived a ‘normal’ life, but it was in a box. From birth to adulthood his life was on camera 24/7. It was the ultimate reality show for the audience as they kept the TV on all the time to see what Truman was up to. Truman had no idea that he was being filmed. The world that he lived was…
Loving Life
God is the Author of Life. God loves life and God is pro (or for) life, but what does that mean? It means to think about life and value life the way God does. God values ALL life – from “womb to tomb” or “birth to earth” as some have put it. As a people who believe in and follow Jesus we should align our thinking with His. It is time to understand the pro-life case, form beliefs on more…
Redeeming Life
As was mentioned last week, this series is entitled “The Matter of Life”. We need to think about life and value life the way God does. This week we are going to be discussing more of the questions we brought up last week: Is it possible that God wants to AND IS ABLE to redeem a life that we would think beyond hope? To prepare for this week: go back to some Bible stories you may or may not be…
Sanctity of Life
Pastors Billy and Alvin have been teaching the last couple weeks on Knowing God and God being the “Author of Life”. To go along with that we are going to start a short series this week entitled “The Matter of Life”. We’re going to be talking about: I would like you to think about some questions as we look at this subject; questions that will be a part of our discussion for the next three weeks: To prepare for this…
Then God Spoke All These Words
Do you remember when was the first time you heard about the Ten Commandments? Was it during dinner one day you sat down with your family? Was it in a conversation with a friend? Was it during children Sunday school? When I first heard about them, I was so little I don’t even remember how old I was. God writing some things on stone tablets must have fascinated me. The Ten Commandments are well known not just to Christians, but…
The King’s Royal Speech
Knowing God: The King’s Royal Speech In our study series we have titled “Knowing God,” we are now at the place in the story where God gave the Ten Commandments to His people. Moses brought tablets down from the Mountain of God with God’s handwriting on them of these Ten Commands for His people to follow. You will recognize the Ten Commandments at least in part, and we know them in Scripture as the ‘LAW OF GOD.’ But much of…
A Plan for the New Year
Starting the New Year 2023 with a Bible-Reading Plan Maybe you are spending your week cleaning up 2022 and getting your new 2023 calendar all ready. It’s about this time every year, between Christmas and New Year, that we all hear statements like… “I sure hope ’23 is better than ’22!” “I’m ready to turn the calendar over to 2023, because I was disappointed in 2022!” “I’m determined to make the new year better than last year.” “I’m starting healthier…
The Dawn of the Incarnational God
Christmas Eve, Candlelight, and Silent Night John 1:14 (NIV) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. This coming Saturday evening is Christmas Eve. My favorite service of the entire year is the 11 p.m. candlelight service at our church building. (We will hold this service once again this coming Saturday. Please realize that we have a 7…
Doesn’t Anyone Know What Christmas is All About?!
Remember the old Christmas cartoon from Peanuts? Charlie Brown is going crazy with all the confusion of a Christmas tree that isn’t working out, a play that’s going badly, and life somehow just falling apart. Frustrated with the chaos of the Christmas season, he yells out to the crowd, “ISN’T THERE ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT?” It is his young friend Linus who stops in the middle of all the hectic activity and, in his innocent little…
Three Portraits
Three portraits to understand the incarnate God we find in John 3 As you may know, Patty and I have been in eastern Europe for a couple weeks, visiting our daughter and son-in-law and, of course, Pollyanna, one of our precious granddaughters (now 10 months old!). While in three eastern European countries—Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland—we attended a significant missions conference (which I will tell about later), but we’ve also visited some amazing tourist sites, namely medieval castles and majestic church…
The Vision that Changed a Whole Course of Ministry
How many of you enjoy the Prophetic Books in the Bible? If I am honest, the Prophets is not the easiest section in the Bible for me. Much of the time, I find it necessary to also study the history along with the chronological order of kingdoms in order to understand the Prophets, and I tend to get my dates mixed up. In addition, I am also someone who easily gets lost when I read poetry. And since there is…
Getting a Glimpse of God
Hello, LifeWay Family! This week marks the start of Advent! I am super-excited for the Christmas season (maybe equally excited for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner!). I just love the lights, the brisk air, and a hot tea between my hands! The memories this time of the year brings up for everyone are wonderful, and I pray that you’re building those memories for you and your family this year. As we work through the series, “Knowing God,” I want you to meditate…
The Firstborn (Part 3)
The Lord taught the Israelites to observe the Passover once they entered into the Promised Land so they would always remember how the Lord killed every Egyptian firstborn to deliver them. Year after year, the Israelites observed the Passover, and they became more and more familiar with the Lord’s teachings on the firstborn—the firstborn belongs to the Lord, the firstborn must be redeemed, and redemption always required blood. Then came one day many years later, a Passover unlike any other.…
The Firstborn (Part 2)
After refusing nine times to let the Israelites go, it is remarkable that on the tenth time, Pharaoh told them to get out, and that in the middle of the night. He couldn’t even stand to wait until daylight. It took the murder of all the Egyptian firstborns to bring Pharaoh to his knees and to let the Israelites go. The tenth plague was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Every one of the nine plague struck the Egyptians,…
Preparing for Our LifeWay Thanksgiving Service
This Sunday morning, November 20, we are dedicating our normal 10 a.m. service time to giving thanks: to one another, for our daily provision and, most of all, to God! There will lots of wonderful musical worship, but each of us is also to play an important part in this service. How to prepare for Thanksgiving worship For example… Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. This Sunday morning service will be…
Stand Firm and See the Deliverance of the Lord!
Exodus 14:13 (NIV) “Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.” In 1998 my wife, Patty, and I had accumulated a bunch of airline miles, so we took our two children on a wonderful adventure to Europe for four full weeks! We did a lot of camping and last-minute, drop-in bed and breakfasts. We’ve got lots of fun stories; our kids to this day refer to this as the most memorable family trip we…