There are certain names that are infamous. We often tell young ladies that they need to be glad their parents did not name them Jezebel, for example. Other names might just be difficult to carry at a certain time. For example, during the Civil War, there was a fairly high-ranking Union soldier who had just such a name. He led at least a few charges in battles in the southwestern portion of Missouri for the Northern army and was also a corps commander later in the war under William Tecumseh Sherman during the “march to the sea.” But his name probably caused him more than a little grief during that…

Last Tuesday evening we were in attendance for a gospel meeting at the New Providence church near Murray, Kentucky. I had preached on Sunday and Monday evening, and Luke was preaching that night. I did not know what he had chosen as a topic. He does his own Bible studies and gets his own ideas and I want him to be his own person. But it was nice to be involved in the first conjoint gospel meeting effort with my son and to get to hear some preaching myself. While preaching on the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians, Luke discussed the wisdom of God. Part of what he emphasized…

I was reading recently about some people who had unique names for the leftovers from their Thanksgiving meals. A man who really loved sports called them replays, and somebody in the entertainment industry called them reruns. To me, the most interesting (and disturbing) designation was by a mortician. He called them remains! There are a few of us who really do like leftovers. I look forward to them almost as much as I do the “real meal.” I, for one, never understood exactly what was meant when somebody was said to quit something “cold turkey.” I like cold turkey! However, I serve a God who does not like and will not accept leftovers. One of the continuing…

The first chapter of the book of Romans describes a disgusting and disastrous descent of mankind into some sins/lifestyles that would almost defy our imagination. That is, the descriptions of some of the sins would have defied our imaginations a few generations ago. Unfortunately, when one reads this chapter now, it is almost as though we are opening up the morning paper or turning on the evening news. Among the sad things that can be said about this passage is that it begins by describing people who, at one time, “…knew God…” (Rom. 1:21). The first steps on their downhill slide are found in that same verse: “For although they knew God, they did…

At our teen fall retreat last weekend, our previous summer intern, Dane Berkey, was speaking and used a term I don’t remember ever considering: “cookie-cutter Christian.” He said a friend of his at Freed-Hardeman was concerned because he had been called this term and asked Dane for his advice. The term caught my attention and I decided to look into it once I was home. From what I can see, this is generally considered a negative term or “limiting” term. What I mean by that is sentiments like “God doesn’t make cookie-cutter Christians” and “I have grown disenchanted with the cookie-cutter Christian approach” are common. Both of those phrases showed…