READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER (PROSPERITY GOSPEL) Passages that will help you respond when people say… Prosperity theology teaches that believers are entitled to financial blessing and physical well-being. Followers are taught that faith, positive…
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (TWENTY-SIXTH IN A SERIES)
In some cases converting an English noun into an adjective is as easy as adding a “y.” Sleep becomes sleepy. Dream dreamy. Silk silky. And yet, the addition of “y” in certain instances can actually reverse a meaning. Consider the word “rock.”
All by itself, “rock” conveys strength and stability. Add “y,” however, and everything changes. Things become rocky, unstable. Not all additions, it turns out, are pluses.
So also with God’s Word.
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT (Please read Ecclesiastes 2.) Many find Ecclesiastes rather gloomy. They think it says that life and everything in it are meaningless. What it actually says is that life is meaningless…
STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when…
READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER (GOSSIP) Passages that will help you respond when people say… As I write these words, I am seated at my desk, fully armed. I’m not expecting any trouble, it’s just…
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (TWENTY-SIXTH IN A SERIES)
It was on the second day of creation that God made the expanse of the sky, and since then He has used it from time to time as something of a billboard for important announcements. Abraham, for example, was told to look up into the sky for confirmation of the promise God was giving him (Genesis 15:5). There were the Christmas angels who appeared in the sky, announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. Now we come to Epiphany, where the sky again plays a role, hosting the famous “star in the east” which started the wise men off on their journey to find the King of the Jews.
The opening verse of the Danish-Lutheran pastor Nicolai Grundtvig’s (1783-1872) hymn, “Bright and Glorious Is the Sky” turns our attention skyward as well, Where the golden stars are shining, / All their rays to earth inclining (v. 1). Our thoughts fly heavenward as they beckon us.
GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT
King Saul, along with three thousand men, was again on the hunt. Out of jealousy, the king was pursuing a most elusive prey: David, the king-elect. Time and time again the outlaw king had eluded Saul with superior tactics and speed. But now David and his men were cornered in a cave near the “Crag of the Wild Goats,” located on the mountainous slopes west of the Dead Sea (1 Samuel 24).
Into the very cave in which David was hiding, Saul entered to relieve himself. Consider David’s position and frame of mind. For months Saul had chased him like a dog, even though David had given Saul no cause for his jealous rage. David’s men were quick to encourage him to take advantage of this golden opportunity to strike a blow for freedom and justice.
STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling…
READY TO GIVE AN ANSWER (COHABITATION) Passages that will help you respond when people say… Unfortunately, this is no longer a common question. I say “unfortunately” because the reason the question is so seldom asked…
A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING (TWENTY-FIFTH IN A SERIES) God had not spoken to His people for 430 years. More than four centuries had come and gone since Malachi had declared God’s final…
