“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.” (I Corinthians 3:6)
Paul made it very clear here just Who was responsible for making the church at Corinth grow: “GOD was causing the growth.” He alone was responsible for all those who had been saved and discipled there.
But that fact didn’t didn’t mean that Paul just sat back and did nothing. Continue reading
“The oracle concerning Moab. Surely in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined. Surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.” (Isaiah 15:1)
God revealed in Isaiah 15 His impending judgment on the nation of Moab, a neighbor of Israel, and He specifically mentioned Ar and Kir. “Kir is usually identified with the capital of Moab, which was in the district of Ar.” (Smith, NAC) The prophet foretold that one day Kir would be a strong, thriving city, the capital of a region or country — and the next, it would be gone: ruined “in a night.”
Those words “in a night” are key. They teach us that things can change suddenly. Continue reading
“And the prisoners were listening.” That phrase from the testimony story we just read in Acts 16 always sticks out to me. When Paul and Silas were unjustly thrown into the prison in Philippi, they didn’t bemoan their fate. The Bible says they were up at midnight in the prison, singing and praising God. And the prisoners were listening. That is a great reminder for us, by the way: the “prisoners” are always listening. People around us are always listening! We need to make sure that they hear something good from us when we speak – a witness for the Lord. “The prisoners were listening.”
But it was not only the prisoners who were listening – Acts 16 tells us that the jailer was listening also — and it led him to Christ. This morning we are going to look at the story of how the Philippian Jailer came to know Jesus as his Lord & Savior. As we do, make sure that YOU TOO are listening, to how you can know that you have a story of salvation as well. Continue reading
“Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?'” (Mark 4:38)
The verse previous (:37) indicates that a “fierce gale of wind” had arisen and the boat that Jesus and His disciples were in was filling up with water, and appeared about to sink. It is in that context that :38 indicates that His disciples awoke Him and asked the question: “Do You not care that we are perishing?”
Unfortunately that may be typical of our responses to the Lord in times of difficulty. We are often quick to ask, “Don’t You care?”; so ready to accuse Him of not being concerned about us. Continue reading
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.” (I COrinthians 1:17)
It is definitely interesting in this day when “creativity” and “excellence” are elevated to almost canonical status, to read that that Paul purposefully did NOT preach in “cleverness” of speech, so that the message of the cross of Christ would not be obscured. (The word “cleverness” here is the Greek word “sophia” — we get our word “sophisticated” from it.) Paul did not try to be clever, sophisticated, or impressive in his language and presentation, because he wanted the simple message of the cross of Christ to be the focus. Continue reading
God’s ways are higher than ours, Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, and there is much we do not understand about them. But some scriptures “pull back the curtain” just a bit and give us some insight into how God works. Isaiah 10 is one of those passages. In it we find two important, and balancing, Biblical doctrines: the Sovereignty of God, and the Responsibility of Man. Continue reading
“The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.” (Psalm 34:22)
God had made it clear in Psalm 34:21 that the wicked would be punished. The word there means “pay, suffer for one’s guilt, be held guilty, bear punishment.” But it is significant that this SAME Hebrew word is used in this next verse, :22, of what will NOT happen to the one who takes refuge in Him! Continue reading
“Evil shall slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.” (Psalm 34:21)
God makes clear in this verse what the end of the wicked will be. Their punishment is inescapable: “Those who hate the righteous will be condemned.” This is a basic characteristic of the nature of God. He must punish evil. Continue reading
“And He said, ‘How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.'” (Mark 4:30-32)
Jesus teaches us here that the Kingdom of God often advances on small beginnings. We see this in a number of instances in scripture. Continue reading
“For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.” (I Corinthians 1:11)
How interesting here that Paul does not report to the church at Corinth that “SOMEONE told me” or “a number of people are saying” and so on. Rather, he NAMED the people who informed him about the divisions that were present in the Corinthian church. THESE are the ones who said this to him: “Chloe’s people.”
Why is this important? Continue reading
I'm a retired Southern Baptist pastor of almost 40 years. My wife Cheryl & I moved to Norman, OK in March of 2025. I share a weekly overview for Sunday School teachers of the weekly Lifeway "Explore the Bible" lesson, as well as texts of my sermons and other articles.
