The Importance of Unity God has left us with no small amount of evidence for how important unity is. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! Psalm 133:1 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you….
Irreverent Recitation
Modern Arguments We live in a time where it’s never been easier to throw your opinions out at other people (blogs, tweets, gabs, etc…) Whether a result of this or not, we also live in a time where many people believe the truth is less important than the effect words will have toward their desired…
The Enemy Within
Warning From the Start In Genesis 3, we find the account of sin entering the world and the world experiencing the consequences for the first time. In the very next chapter we see the family of Adam and Eve making offerings to God, but the sin that entered through his father was already at work…
Direction Not Perfection
Forms of Worship When it comes to honoring God, there are all sorts of different ideas about what that should look like. Even among those who claim to follow the Bible, there are many ways people seek to worship him. Some may be accustomed to liturgies and pipe organs, others topical sermons and electric guitar….
A New Word
The Firsthand Message In 1 Kings 13 there is a record of a prophet whom God sent to declare a judgement against the alter Jeroboam. He had put up this alter up in Bethel for the worship of a golden calf he had put up for Israel to worship instead of worshiping God in Jerusalem….
Ahab’s Perspective
The section of 1 Kings that chronicles Ahab’s life is easy to read from a perspective of Elijah as the main character. There are parts of the text that focus entirely upon where God sends him and how he was cared for. However, Ahab didn’t see himself as a supporting character in his own life….
Deceptively Generous Rulers
There is a great deal of discussion about if leaders care about us. As I discussed in another post, the God given role of government is to be a wrath against wrong, not to provide for us. We have a corrupt view of the purpose of government when we try to make it our care…
The Root of Wisdom
The book of Proverbs was written mostly by King Solomon (a man uniquely blessed by God with wisdom) because he wanted to pass on what he knew about the world and how it worked to future generations. Lately, I’ve been going through this book with my own sons (so expect more proverbs posts) and one…
What Is Cultivated Grows
Be Careful to Grow Goodness The book of James starts out with a series of steps which start with having ones faith tested. When your faith is tested and you hold to God, it will produce steadfastness as a character trait, which eventually leads to perfection when one is completely unshakable. Count it all joy,…
Boldness Vs. Pride
Paradoxically, the word “confidence” has a positive connotation in our culture while the best forms of confidence are often decried as arrogance, self-righteous, or close-mindedness. It has been a very effective way for the spirit of this age to keep Christians unsteady and lacking in boldness. You can revel, publicly, in nearly any sin and…