I Call Her “Blessed”

By Don Johnson | December 14, 2021 |

Today my mother is 98 years old. I wrote about her a couple of years ago in “Teach Us to Number Our Days.” In that post, I described my mother’s shrinking world with memory loss and limited mobility, urging us all to use our days wisely in the Lord’s service. In today’s post, I want…

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Hollywood is Not the Friend of Christ

By Kevin Schaal | December 12, 2021 |

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:1-2) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever…

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Repeat After Me

By Don Johnson | December 10, 2021 |

In our study of 1 Peter, we came to 1 Peter 2.21 in our latest message. The verse contains one “big word” that dominates it and the next few verses in the epistle. That word is “example” — translated that way in almost all the English versions I checked. A couple of versions give us…

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The Annunciation in Luke (1)

By Paul Henebury | December 9, 2021 | Comments Off on The Annunciation in Luke (1)

The annunciation passages in Matthew and Luke are our first introduction to the way the Holy Spirit will pick up the threads of the OT and join them with the new revelation that came with the advent of Jesus Christ. We start with those passages where angels announce the birth of the Savior. I am…

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What’s Past Is Prologue

By Ken Brown | December 8, 2021 | Comments Off on What’s Past Is Prologue

We have heard it said that “Experience is the best teacher” to which I add, “especially when it is someone else’s experience.”  That is, we need not repeat the mistakes of others, and can benefit from their accomplishments, if we wisely learn from those who have gone before.  In addition to the “experience” adage we…

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What Will SCOTUS Do?

By Chuck Hervas | December 7, 2021 | Comments Off on What Will SCOTUS Do?

Given the important abortion case before the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) this week, I thought I’d make some comments about the abortion issue. I’ll make the bold statement that SCOTUS doesn’t actually rule to stop abortion. SCOTUS will, however, rule on the constitutionality of regulating abortion by analyzing the right to privacy under the Due…

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Evangelical Deconstruction: Biblical Fundamentalist Thoughts

By Kevin Schaal | December 5, 2021 |

Twice a week I sit with ten or more 17 and 18-year-olds and let them ask any question they want about the faith—freely—no question is out of bounds. I know that they are preparing to head off to independent lives and I want to make sure that they understand their own faith thoroughly before it…

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Can You Help Me?

By Jerry Sivnksty | December 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Can You Help Me?

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who…

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How to Respond without Taking Revenge

By Gordon Dickson | December 2, 2021 | Comments Off on How to Respond without Taking Revenge

When someone sins against you, how should you fight your inner impulse to return evil for their evil? How can you respond without getting revenge? God’s design for true Christians is that, even when Satan squeezes them, the Scripture runs out. The Lord comforts believers in all their tribulations in order that they can know…

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Focusing on the Heart of the Matter

By Ken Brown | December 1, 2021 | Comments Off on Focusing on the Heart of the Matter

The 2004 movie The Village depicts a community completely sealed off from the outside world in order to protect its inhabitants from the dangers beyond, only to discover that the evil they fear is among them, because within them.  They learned what the comic strip character Pogo declared: “We have met the enemy and he…

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