Church Life
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Marks of the Master
There was excitement in the art world recently with a discovery on a statue. The figure, carved a little over 500 years ago by Michelangelo, is not one of his more famous works, but it was recently reexamined and a possibly tremendous discovery was made. On the small wax figure, a previously unnoticed mark was found. Upon more examination, it became clear that it was a print–a thumbprint. And it is believed to be a thumbprint of the master artist himself, preserved for all these centuries. No matter how “important” of a work of art this statue is, if this discovery turns out to actually be Michelangelo’s print, what a…
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A Three-Step Process To Ruin
A while ago, I wrote about a man who has a podcast that I listen to on a fairly regular basis. It has been a while since he discussed the subject that I’m thinking about today. I cannot remember exactly when it was, but I know that I was so intrigued at the time that I read the transcript of that particular podcast and made a few notes. In his podcast and manuscript, he refers to a man by the name of Theo Hobson and describes him as “…a major British theologian and public intellectual…”. From what little I’ve learned about Dr. Hobson, I would probably not agree with him on what I…
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Sell Our For God…With Joy
I was blessed last week to hear Central’s summer series with David Salisbury speaking on “The Hidden Treasure” found in Matthew 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Mr. Salisbury did an excellent job presenting an entire lesson based on just that one verse. I learned why the man covered it up for a time and why he bought the whole field. If you want to know about that, please watch the video and learn for yourself! The point of this post is…
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When You’re Hurting, Watch Out For…
Sadly, in our world, people get hurt. There are some who, for whatever reason, are out to hurt other people, but for the most part, people just get hurt by a word said at the wrong time or someone not knowing any better. Typically, we are hurt by people who do not mean to hurt us, but it still stings. When that happens, there are a lot of dangers we must watch out for. When our heart is hurting, we can be in very dangerous territory. Our enemy, the devil, knows that we are vulnerable and will use any means necessary to place temptations before us. There are many ways…
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When It Is Somebody You Love
I am typing these words as I sit with Donna during the day following her second knee replacement surgery. Our first experience with this was about nine months ago. The doctor told us that no two surgeries or recoveries are exactly the same. So far, the events have proven him to be exactly correct. While the procedure was the same (except for two different knees), the surgeon was the same, and the hospital was the same, this experience is very different from the first one. So far, Donna seems to be having more difficulty getting “back on her feet” – both literally and figuratively. I’ve spent part of today thinking about some “life lessons”…
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When In Need
[Editor’s Note: Due to a mix-up, this post is being shared one week after the surgery mentioned in the introduction. We are glad to say it was successful! We hope you find the message of the post just as timely as if it had been published on the correct day. If you read this post early on Thursday morning, I will most likely have just had surgery having a new knee implanted. I had the other knee done in September of last year, and now this knee is saying, ‘it’s my turn.” I know what to expect–the pain, the therapy, the slow movement. I like to be the one helping,…
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Helping Men Desire The Office
Being an elder in the Lord’s Church is the highest office any man could ever hold in this life. Shepherding a local congregation is a responsibility that has such weight to it, and it is essential to the health of a congregation. But the office is not just for anyone. Twice in the writings of Paul–in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1–he gives inspired qualifications these men are to have to become elders, and that they should continue to have to remain in that important office. Many have pointed out to me over the years that the first of the qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 might be the hardest–or,…
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The Timing Is Interesting
Most students of the Bible are probably familiar with some of the events that took place after the death of king Solomon. He had succeeded his father David as king. When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam succeeded him as king. However, the succession did not go very smoothly. What kept the succession from going smoothly was a decision made by Rehoboam. His decision led to a division in the kingdom that was never repaired. As I recently read the account about the decision and how it was made for about the umpteenth time, I noticed something I had never noticed before. (This would be a good place for a quick reminder about the importance of continuing…
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Dealing With “Secret Sin”
One of the most challenging lyrics we ever sing is in the song “Purer In Heart, O God.” Near the end of that song, we sing these words: “Keep me from secret sin; reign Thou my soul within.” Those are very easy (and beautiful) words to sing, but when I truly let my mind contemplate what is coming from my mouth, I have to ask myself if I really mean those words. When we think of “secret sin,” we could talking about actions that no one else knows about, such as a gambling problem or pornography addiction, or we would be talking about sins of our attitude, such as jealousy,…
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Where No One Is Alone
[Editor’s Note: The lady mentioned in this article lost her battle with cancer since the article was written. We held the article back from publication for some time and we pray this is seen as an appropriate time to share it. We continue to pray for her family.] As I type these words, a sister in the Lord is fighting cancer. There are many things which the two of us do not have in common. She is much younger than I am and has a two-year-old child, while my youngest grandchild is about to celebrate her thirteenth birthday. The pigmentation of our skin is quite different. We do not share the same family background,…
