“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8)
In our era of “what’s true for me may not be true for you”, Paul’s words here seem shockingly certain. Which was just the point. Paul KNEW that his gospel was true. There was no uncertainty; no “humble openness” — not in regard to this. Continue reading
When our kids were little, I started listening to a CD with the greatest hits of the British comic operas of Gilbert & Sullivan. These operas were written in the late 1800’s, and they poke fun at all kinds of people in their songs, including one British High Lord of the Admiralty, who got his post as the head of the Navy as a political appointment, but he had never actually been on a boat in his whole life! So in one of their songs they have him singing this lesson to his hearers: “So land men all, whoever you may be, if YOU want to rise to the top of the tree: stick close to your desks and never go to sea — and you all may be rulers of the Queen’s Navy!” I loved the song, and I guess I hadn’t really realized how much I had been listening to it, when one day our sons Paul & David were fighting about something — I can’t remember just what it was; I think David wouldn’t share some video game with Paul or something — so I asked David: “David, don’t you know the Golden Rule?” And he said: “Yeah, you mean: ‘Stick close to your desk and never go to sea, and you all may be rulers of the Queen’s Navy’?” That was the day I knew I had failed as a parent!
So today we are going to be talking about “The Golden Rule” — NOT the Gilbert & Sullivan “Golden Rule”, but the REAL one, that is found here in Matthew 7:12:
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Continue reading
“So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’” (John 21:21-22)
After Jesus told Peter the kind of death he would die to glorify God, Peter turned around and asked Jesus about “this man” — most likely John. Jesus’ answer is instructive not only to Peter, but to all of us who would compare God’s dealings with us to those He has with others. Continue reading
“Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” (John 21:22)
Thus Jesus’ first word to Peter (Matthew 4:19) was now also His last: “Follow Me!” And it is His unchanging word to His disciples today as well. Continue reading
I loved our Children’s Ministry Bible presentation last week, and I especially appreciated how Dr. Amanda mentioned that she is teaching our kids the importance of CONTEXT in scripture. It’s hard to overstate the importance of that in Bible interpretation. When you want to understand the true meaning of a verse, look at its context — the verses before and after it — and it will often give you the insight you need.
That is especially true with :6 of our passage for today: “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
At first glance this may seem like a very odd verse, and you might wonder: what kind of spiritual point could Jesus possibly be making with this? But as we will see, the context helps us understand what it means — and then THIS verse sheds some light on the context of following verses in a way that perhaps you have never thought about before. Continue reading
“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.'” (John 21:15)
If you love the Lord, what can you really do to show Him? He Himself doesn’t really “need” anything: He is totally self-sufficient. He doesn’t need you to bring Him anything to eat or drink, or anything at all. But Jesus tells Peter here that there IS something he can do to express his love and gratitude: Continue reading
I have heard several people this week say that they are looking forward to the cooler weather that is coming in at the end of the week, and fall — and Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year — but giving thanks to God is something that we should do all year long. It should part of our prayer time every morning.
Our Psalm for tonight is a Psalm of thanksgiving and praise, and it teaches us some things we are to be grateful to God for — AND how we can praise Him for His goodness to us. We’ll read the whole Psalm later, but I want us to focus on :1,
“There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God, and to You the vow will be performed.” (NASB) Continue reading
“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.'” (John 21:12)
What an amazing morning the disciples had, after that long night of catching nothing, getting to eat breakfast with Jesus! The passage says that Jesus “took the bread and gave it to them; and the fish likewise.” (:13) Fish & bread for breakfast with Jesus! Continue reading
“Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.” (John 21:7-8)
Peter was unique among the disciples — he was impetuous and “threw himself into the sea” — whereas the others were more conventional in their response: :8 says “the other disciples came in the little boat.” They were coming — perhaps not as impulsively or as precipitously as Peter, but coming nonetheless.
Both types of disciples are still among us today: 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.
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