... your wife, you will lose the respect of your colleagues and your children. It may even cause you to lose your health. John Hunter, a physiologist, who had a severe heart condition, said, "My wife is at the mercy of the person who can make ... , run fast "A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention." (Prov. 15:18) Solomon repeatedly admonishes his children to "be slow to anger." (14:29; 15:18; 16:32; 19:4) If you are headed toward the house of anger, be slow to arrive and walk ...
... water. I realize that to take on the topic of drinking, whether in moderation or in excess, is to be a modern day John the Baptist crying in the wilderness. 71% of Americans drink, and the number of Americans who drink has doubled in the last twenty ... three or four parts of water mixed with one part of wine. In other words, what the Bible calls wine was basically purified water.18 Stein points out that in the ancient world many beverages were unsafe to drink. Water could be made safe in one of several ways: ...
... afternoon to try out a new golf course in the area. I was placed in a foursome with three men from the local area. One of them, John, was a retired math teacher at a private school. When he found out that I am a pastor, he said, “I believe in God but I don ... or on a manicured golf course. But Jesus said, “Where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them.” (Matt. 18:20) The final step in getting personal with God is to take some risks with him. Dare to do something that is not likely to ...
... this morning, on the first Sunday of Lent, as we begin our Lenten journey together. It’s the familiar story of Jesus’ baptism, by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, with the Spirit descending like a dove upon him, and God’s voice, saying, “You are my Son ... rich man are reversed (Luke 16:19-31); the repentant, though despised, publican is accepted before the “righteous” Pharisee (Luke 18:10-13); the laborers in the vineyard regain the land controlled by a greedy, absentee landlord (Matthew 20:1- ...
... sin. The Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 6:18, "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body." (I Corinthians 6:18, NASB) When you commit sexual sin, you actually sinned ... will be. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, NASB) There was a woman, who was once caught red-handed in the act of adultery. She was brought before Jesus by a ...
... him. Thank God it is a rock that doesn't change. The church is a third "rock" to which we can cling. In Matthew 16:18 we read "... I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." In recent years the church has been ... eternal life. Those who trust in God have a promise of a bright future. 1 John 2:17 says, "... the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live for ever." In John 10:28 Jesus says, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. ...
... driven them to their knees as they realized Christ's triumph over death. They thought he was dead but now he was alive. Peter and John were there. They had seen Him die. They probably helped take down the body and lay it in the tomb. And now, they saw the ... Like the heroes of Lord of the Rings, they saw and they believed. How awesome was that? (2) Let's look at the Passage from John 20:1-18 [1] Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone ...
... read in the Bible, that God reminds us that God is in charge and God is right there with us in whatever dark valley of life we're going through. Jesus couldn't have been more plainly. Listen to what He says to the Disciples at the Last Supper. John 14:15-18 (NRSV) [15] "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. [17] This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor ...
... it. The more you get, the more you are going to want. A. Possessions are a problem. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH OF THEM. Verse 18 says, “I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones.” When is enough, enough? It is always a little more than what ... Walking away from that committal service somebody will think if not actually ask, “I wonder how much ol’ John left?” The answer to that question is simple; ol’ John left it all, that’s how much he left. Somewhere in the shadows I think I hear Jesus saying ...
... is required for maturity. This is the second thing I want to emphasize. Le me tell you what I mean by perspective. John McKay is the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At ne time he was the coach of the U.S.C. Trojans. An ... justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:13- 4 RSV) Perspective not proficiency is required for Christian maturity. IV. PEFORMANCE NOT PROFESSION Now, another word. Performance not profession is ...
... God’s judgment. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the Judgment,” The writer of K says in Chapter 9, verse 27. John makes the case clear in his fifth chapter, the 28 and 29th verses: “Do not marvel at this; the hour is coming when all who are in ... we are brought near to each other and to God. We are no longer strangers. Now comes the third phrase in verse 18: “Access by one spirit to the Father.” The Greek word translated “access,” is a technical term for the right of free ...
... Israel. (68:4-8) Verses 7 and 8, is a reflection on God’s activity in the Exodus experience of Israel. Hear verse 18 again. “Now when all the people perceived the thunderings and lightnings and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people ... of Christ. I shared in my column in the Courier this week, portions of a letter I received from my dear friend, John Birkbeck. John closed his precious letter which brought joy I to my heart with a sentence, “Maxie death is not a period, but a comma ...
... , with all prayer and supplication, to that end keep alert with all perseverance making all supplication for all the saints. (Vs. 18) So prayer is often a battlefield, where we fortify ourselves to endure, where we deal with our temptations, where we engage ... I looked through the darkness and saw some body’s cap going up in the air. I said to myself, “somebody who cares enough about old John to stay out on a night like this, I guess I’m not going to quit yet.” Just then the winds seemed to ease up, and ...
... is fellowship with God. That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so your fellowship is with the Father. (1 John 1:3). Because we belong to Christ, we belong to each other. In koinonia we are bound to each other, to Christ, and to ... in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the g of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Amen.” (Gal. 6:16-18). Paul began his letter with a prayer for peace (1:3) and he closes it with the same. In the beginning peace was combined with grace ...
... people join a church because there is a deep need to understand. I had been in that first congregation at the age of 18 for ten days when its most prominent member, one of the few members I had, was killed in a tragic farming accident. Without ... words spoken in this entire national observance.” Surely it is God who saves us, let us trust in Him and not be afraid. John Ortberg reports on a study of 122 men who suffered their first heart attack. They were evaluated on their degree of hopefulness and pessimism ...
... you an arm and a leg." Adam thought for a moment and replied, “What could I get for just a rib?" So the bantering goes on. Author John Gray made millions back in the 1990's with a book called Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. A person whom I did not know ... on the wall; she was a force for the Gospel. Paul introduces them in Verse 2 of Chapter 18 as Aquila and Priscilla. In every other reference to them, Versus 18, 19, and 26 he refers to them as Priscilla and Aquila. Do you think Paul is trying to ...
... of which Paul is speaking? That may sound like a dumb question. We know that Paul is not speaking about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which had not yet been written (or I least I hope we know that). In some places, Paul writes about "my gospel," meaning ... 22; 10:38). The climax of Jesus' mission was the Jews' unwitting fulfillment of prophecy through the crucifixion (Acts 2:23; 2:36; 3:13-15, 18; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39; 13:27-29) and the crowning vindication of Jesus was the resurrection (Acts 2:32; 3:15; 4:10; ...
... the Call God places on the people called Christian. And he reminds us of that in the passage for today. Hebrews 12:18-29 (NRSV) [18] You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, [19] and ... and Jacob. Just like Moses. Just like Joshua. Just like Isaiah and Jeremiah, David and Solomon. Just like John the Baptist. Just like Jesus, Peter, James and John. Just like Paul and Timothy.Just like your favorite pastor. The only difference is that today I am ...
... lives. For Philip “practicing” the Holy Spirit, or what later Christians would call “practicing the presence,” meant leaving Peter and John and a successful missionizing arena in Samaria in order to wander by himself down a hot road in the middle ... 2 Kings 1:15), is whisked about bodily by the Spirit (see 1 Kings 18:12), and is instructed to run alongside the chariot of an important man and join him (see 1 Kings 18:46). Clearly Philip’s obedient response to and participation in all these divinely ...
... what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” (Rom 7:18-20). Paul is tortured by his inability to be perfect, and yet here is Christ, Paul’s Master, in the Sermon on the Mount saying without any ... perfection.’ However, there is a Greek word that does mean “sinless perfection.” It is the word ‘anamartetos.’ Jesus used it in John 8:7, “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is ...
... Mom. We all know that. I read about a study recently that shows that by the time a child reaches 18, a mother has had to handle some 18,000 hours of extra child-generated work. In fact, says this study, women who never have children enjoy the equivalent ... what shepherd, no matter how conscientious will lay down his life for his sheep? That is the analogy that Jesus used (John 10:11). A shepherd might inadvertently give his life protecting his sheep. We could understand that. But what shepherd would ...
... soil. This is the seed sown along the path. Now you may think Jesus is talking here about atheists and agnostics. Not necessarily. Pastor John Huffman tells about a man he knows named Bob. Bob is in his mid-sixties. Bob has gone to church all of his ... Research Center poll that asked people what their life goals were. According to this poll 81% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 said that getting rich was their most important (or 2nd most important) goal in life. Does this disturb you that getting ...
... subject and that subject is Jesus Christ. Too many people think you only meet Jesus when you get to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Actually, you meet Jesus from the very first chapter. Don’t take my word for it. After Jesus was raised from the dead ... life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-19, NIV) If anybody needs to hear from God it is the ruler of a people. God said to His kings, “I want you to keep a ...
... books and articles on Hoover have uncovered a variety of behavior and improprieties that would have greatly offended my dad. President John F. Kennedy lauded Thomas Jefferson when, at an assemblage of artists, actors, authors, and musicians in the East Room of the ... , Chuck Colson in the early 1990s pointed out that in Washington DC, "46% of the inner city black population between the ages of 18 and 21 is either in prison, on parole, or on probation." Let's say that again — that's nearly half the inner city ...
... ? Moishe lived a long life. Prophets have one job: to speak for God. And sometimes God has some uncomfortable things to say to us. Pastor John W. Ritenbaugh says, “When a person is freezing to death, he feels a pleasant numbness that he does not want to end. He just goes ... . And we, as God’s people, can base our lives and our hope on the promises of God. 1. “18 of the highest-paid jobs you can get working for the Royal Family” by Lindsay Dodgson, Business Insider, Apr. 19, 2018, . 2. “Queen Elizabeth ...