It is a commercial for one of those companies that promises to negotiate with the IRS for people. The “target audience” seems to be individuals and families who owe a great amount of money in back taxes. As is often the case with services like this, the commercials feature testimonials from people who have successfully used the services of the company. One of those testimonials features a “satisfied customer” who had his debt to the IRS reduced significantly. He looks at the camera and confidently says, “I’ve got the paperwork to prove it.” Recently, Donna and I were in Cookeville, TN for a couple of reasons. We were there to…

As I type these words, I am working on a Bible class that I am to begin teaching very soon. I am scheduled to teach seventh through twelfth grade young men some material that has a sort of dual purpose. The text of the class will be the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Since this is a Bible class, we will, of course, study the text itself. There is a second and underlying consideration for this class as well. It is my prayer that the class will prepare them in some way to fulfill their God-given roles as leaders in the Lord’s church and in their homes.   We hope to…

How do we study the Bible? If we are honest, that is a great question. Often, we tell people in Bible classes and sermons that we all need to “study more,” which is true, but we often do not give them tools as to how to do so. This post is not meant to be a full exploration of Bible study. It is, however, meant to give one step that people far too often overlook and it is one that takes no money and, actually, very little time. As the title suggests, it is also the simplest step in Bible study. What is it? Look at the context. It is…