I love the song, “Just As I Am.” The words–especially the opening lyrics–are some of the most soul-stirring that we sing. Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come; I come. The concept is simple, but so moving. When we come to Jesus, we are not already “cleaned up” from our sin. Instead, we realize that only His blood can cleanse us, so we come just as we are. If I am one who has a problem with alcohol, I admit it and let the blood of Jesus forgive…

Brother James Burton Coffman was–among other things–a preacher for local congregations, an educator, a lecturer, and an author. Many have in their libraries his commentaries on both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Recently, while doing some work on a sermon, I came across an interesting statement in brother Coffman’s commentary on Matthew. In reality, it was not directly related to the particular lesson on which what I was working. At the same time, it is directly related to everything I need to be as a Christian.  The passage under consideration was this portion of what has come to be known as The Sermon on the Mount: You have heard that it…

Jesus once told a parable about wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30). In a certain field, there were those who were sowing wheat while others sowed tares. Wheat is a desired crop and tares are basically just weeds. The kingdom of heaven is the field. The differing seeds represent good and bad doctrine. The harvest is judgment. The reapers are the angels of heaven who will be with Christ at His coming and will help to separate the saved and the lost. The question of the parable is should the laborers (faithful Christians today who are sowing good seed) pull out the tares that have been sown among the wheat? Jesus…

I see it virtually every day, and each time I see it, I cringe. It goes this way: someone puts a post on Facebook, seeking prayers for some situation in life. Maybe a relative is facing surgery, or maybe it is because of a job loss. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with that. It is good to ask for others to carry our burdens, including in prayer. Then, once the request is posted, people begin to put comments. You might see the following: “Praying for you.” “I’m praying for your family.” “We will be praying.” “Sending prayers your way.” Wait, what? Did you read that last one? “Sending prayers your way.”…

When Jesus told the parable of the talents he expressed something most people overlook. While the main teaching of the parable likely pertains to stewardship, accountability, or our need to be prepared for the judgment, we have probably never thought about one subtle truth that I believe he also implied. There were three servants. The first was given 5 talents, the second was given 2 talents, and the third was given 1 talent. They were entrusted with these talents and their master expected them to do something with them. We have all been given something by God, some blessing, some responsibility for which we must give account. I think most…