“Be hospitable to one another without complaint.” (I Peter 4:9)
Reading this verse the day before most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, with all the busy-ness of pre-holiday preparations, leads one to ponder how it might apply to us today. Surely it is not merely teaching us about hospitality in church ministry situations, but also includes what we do in our own homes. Scripture is very intrusive like that. Continue reading
When our son Michael was a little boy, he was VERY plain-spoken; he would just say whatever was on his mind. Thankfully he has grown out of that (somewhat!) as he has matured, but when he was little he just had no “filter.” One time he was sitting in the little seat in the grocery cart at Wal-Mart and a lady was being nice to him and talking to him, and Michael looked at Cheryl and said: “She’s talking to me. Tell her to stop talking to me!” (In all honesty, a lot of us probably wish we could tell people that at times!) Another time we had gotten together with Cheryl’s brother and his family at what we had been told was a really good bbq restaurant in Oklahoma City, but when they brought the food out, they had everyone’s but Michael’s. They apologized and said that his would be out in just a minute. I made a mental note that that might be hard for a preschooler to accept that everyone had their food except him, but I thought, well, we’ll go ahead and pray and maybe his food will be here shortly. So I said, “While we’re waiting, let’s go ahead and give thanks for our food.” Michael looked around at everyone’s food and said, “Why I should give thanks; I don’t have any food!”
Well I hope this Thanksgiving season you already know some good reasons why you should be giving thanks, but in case you’re short of ideas, let’s look together at Psalm 136, which I hope will help to “prime the pump” on reasons we have as God’s people to give Him thanks. Psalm 136 is notable for a number of things. The first thing most people notice is its repetition of the phrase: “For His lovingkindness is everlasting.” But it also significant in that it lists a number of things for which God’s people can be thankful.
Verse 1 begins: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Continue reading
“To obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” (I Peter 1:4)
When I was a boy, someone gave me a silver dollar, which I treasured. Not trusting myself with it, I gave it to my father and asked him to keep it for me, lest in my childish irresponsibility, I might lose it.
Speaking to the Christians whom he previously referred to as being like “aliens” in this world, Peter reminds God’s people that they have a heavenly Father who is keeping a reward for them. And he teaches us some things in this verse about the inheritance we will one day receive from Him: Continue reading
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who are chosen” (I Peter 1:1)
Peter wrote to the Christians who were scattered throughout what is now the nation of Turkey, and told them that they were “aliens.” This Greek Bible word means “one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives; hence, stranger; sojourning in a strange place, a foreigner” (Thayers Greek Lexicon). The contemporary term “illegal aliens” refers to people who are not citizens of the country in which they are currently living. Peter said that Christians are to view themselves this way: as strangers living in a foreign land.
This word applies to Christians living today as well. Continue reading
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
Those words, “YOU are with me” are everything to the follower of the Lord. The word “YOU” is actually emphasized in Hebrew (“atah” is an emphatic “YOU”!) It reassures the Lord’s sheep that if we know that God is with us, we can face anything — even death’s shadow.
The most important thing in all the world is to have the presence of God with you, to know that He is “with us.” Because there’s nothing we can’t face if He is with us.
Moses knew this. Continue reading
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Chinese Qin Dynasty — and he wanted to be the last. He wanted to live forever. In Imperial China at that time, they believed in certain “elixirs of life” which might give a person eternal life. One of these elixirs was the element mercury, which Qin Shi Huang took in hopes of becoming immortal. But as you might guess, it actually hastened his death, and he died at the young age of 39, probably from mercury poisoning.
Ever since man’s choice of sin marred our world and brought death into it, mankind has sought to somehow conquer death and gain eternal life. Unfortunately, because we don’t turn to God’s word for guidance, we go about it in the wrong way. Without the leadership of God’s word, we will continue to fall short of genuine eternal life. But as we close our study of this great verse this morning, we find that God promises us “eternal life.” What IS this “eternal life” that Jesus talks about here, and how can you know that you have it? Continue reading
Jesus’ final command to His disciples in the Book of Matthew is well-known to many:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
While many rightly focus on the activity involved in the main verb of the command, “make disciples”, there is also a vital doctrine contained in these verses which must not be missed. Continue reading
“And they took the money, and did as they had been instructed …” (Matthew 28:15 NASB)
What an interesting sentence: “and they took the money.” The guards in this story knew the truth; they had been at the tomb and felt the earthquake, and were terrified by the angel. They knew that something miraculous had happened — but they were offered “a large sum of money” (:12) to say otherwise, that “His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.” They compromised what they knew to be the truth, and “they took the money” instead.
None of us have ever been in the very position these guards were in, of denying the resurrection of Jesus, but the fact is that we face choices that are very similar to that all the time: Continue reading
Several years ago, some students at Southwestern Baptist Seminary were talking before the start of class, one of them started telling a joke that involved a story about hell. Just then, the professor walked in, and he said, “Men, I never joke about hell. People are going there.”
This morning we are studying a very sobering topic. We have worked our way, word by word and phrase by phrase, through John 3:16, until now we come to the last two phrases: “should not perish” and “but have everlasting life.” Next Sunday morning we are going to conclude our “John 3:16” series with a look at the glorious nature of “eternal life.” But before you can be healed by the gospel, first you must be wounded by it. So this morning we will study the phrase, “shall not perish.” God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die on the cross so that we might not “perish.” What is this talking about? What is this “perishing”, and why are we doing it? Continue reading
“Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.” (Matthew 28:11 NASB)
You have to ask yourself: just how depraved were these chief priests? The guard reported to them “all that had happened” — i.e., that the angel had appeared, etc. — didn’t they fear that this might really be a work of God? If Jesus could do this, was there any way that they could stop Him? And yet they schemed together (:12) and spread a lie about His body being stolen (:13-15) instead of repenting and believing in the Lord themselves.
There is an important lesson here: 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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