Years ago this country witnessed the execution of Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. A USA Today poll taken in April showed that 81 percent of Americans wanted McVeigh to be executed -- and 28 percent of that support was from people who are normally against the death penalty. No matter where you stand on the issue of capital punishment, this particular execution has forced itself on our consciousness. One thing that particularly caught my attention was that in lieu of any verbal comment, McVeigh gave a handwritten statement to the warden, quoting a section of the poem "Invictus," which is Latin for "unconquered." That poem, by 19th-century British poet William Ernest Henley (1849-1903), reads in part "I am the master of my fate: I …

Ours is an age that is filled with demons. There is more possession going on in the first decade of this 21st century than has gone on in centuries. And the problem is that we don't want to mention it because demons are part of the mythical past. We in our scientific world do not believe in demons. That is because demons are powers that take away our control and leave us at the mercy of powers outside ourselves.

Now, I realize in saying this that there are those of you who are immediately thinking to yourselves, "Oh-oh! The pastor has just stepped off the deep end (again).

It may come as a surprise but one of the key things we need to deal with is demons in our world. We speak of them all the time.

Drug addiction is a demon. Addicts are always speaking of being possessed by the need for…

Genesis 13:7 - "and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle ..."

Luke 8:34 - "When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country."

The biblical herdsman was one who supervised and cared for groups of cattle, pigs, oxen, horses, camels, or asses. The patriarchs, of course, were great herdsmen. Although we might think of this as being a relatively lowly occupation, it was not inconsistent with state honors. For example, David’s herdsmen were among his chief officers of state. In general, however, the herdsman was s…

Some time ago, a young lawyer came to see his pastor. He was down in the dumps, at his wit's end. He said: "Everything's gone wrong. I have lost confidence in my professional ability... my wife has left me. I can't get along with my children. I'm cut off from my parents and my in-laws. I'm having conflicts with my co-workers. I've been drinking heavily…

The noted author, John Killinger, tells a powerful story about a man who is all-alone in a hotel room in Canada. The man is in a state of deep depression. He is so depressed that he can't even bring himself to go downstairs to the restaurant to eat.

He is a powerful man usually the chairman of a large shipping company but at this moment, he is absolutely overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of life… and he lies there on a lonely hotel bed far from home wallowing in self-pity.

All of his life, he has been fastidious, worrying about everything, anxious and fretful, always fussing and stewing over every detail. And now, at mid-life, his anxiety has gotten the best of him, even to the extent that it is difficult for him to sleep and to eat.

He worries and broods and agonizes about every…

One day a young father was shopping in a crowded super-market. His three-year old son was with him. The little boy was riding in the grocery cart... and he was misbehaving terribly and causing all kinds of problems.

Every time the father would put something into the cart, the little boy would grab it and throw it back out. If the cart went close to the shelves, the three-year old boy would just rake stuff off onto the…

Just because you don't get rewarded or appreciated doesn't mean you aren't appreciated or won't get rewarded in some fashion. You may never know about it.

I know some people would rather die than show their appreciation or say thanks. There is a Peanuts cartoon strip in which Lucy is crying bitter tears over a decision her mother has made. She wails, "…

As Ted Peters once pointed out, in the English language, it's curious that the word evil is "live" spelled backwards. And indeed, evil always destroys. Life is diminished if not wiped out where the demons rule. The death of the pigs reflects that. What's more, in the Ancient Near East, the sea represented one of the forces of chaos that people feared. So it's a double-whammy: first there is death but second there is death by drowning in the sea, thus piling up and compounding the sense of chaos and evil in this story.

But …

There's a vast difference between intellectual faith and genuine faith. In the late 1890's, a famous tightrope walker strung a wire across Niagara Falls. As 10,000 people watched, he inched his way along the wire from one side of the falls to the other.

When he got to the other side, the crowd cheered wildly. Finally, the tightrope walker was able to quiet the crowd and shouted to th…

In polite society we have not wanted to talk much of demons and the demonic. In our liberal, educated culture, we have believed that sin was due mostly to ignorance and that evil could be eradicated by education. In our psychologically enlightened times we have avoided the more ancient religious and mythological language of devils and evil. We have instead preferred words like repression, impulses, sublimation, drives, complexes, phobias, regression, neuroses, psychoses, manic-depressive, schizophrenic and schizoid to n…

Martin Luther, believed in demons but he believed in God more. In that great Hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" he writes:

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That hymn, first published in 1529, has been called "the greatest hymn of the greate…

This concept of authority as something that causes another person to "do what you want him to do" is reflected in most definitions. For instance, the Random House Dictionary of the English Language speaks of authority as "a power or right to direct the actions or thoughts of others. Authority is a power or right, usually because of rank or office, to issue commands and to punish for violations." Again the root idea seems to be control or direction of the actions of others.

We see this same idea even in sophisticated examinations of authority. For instance, William Oncken, …

Howard Maxwell is a man in tune with his times.  When his four-year-old daughter, Melinda, acquired a fixation for “The Three Little Pigs” and demanded that he read it to her night after night, he knew he had to do something.  So Mr. Maxwell tape-recorded the story.  When Melinda next asked for it, he simply switch…

Believing things "on authority" only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there is …

The Gospel according to Mark, commonly accepted to be the earliest of the synoptics, relates that Jesus began his Galilean ministry by 1. making an announcement, 2. extending an invitation, and 3. issuing a command. It would be pressing the matter entirely too far to even remotely suggest that the sequence of events was intentional, yet there is a certain familiarity about the sequence itself. As a matter of fact, the three ingredients, broadly categorized above, probably bear a striking resemblance to the sermon you will likely hear in your particular church on any given Sunday: a. the announcement of a Gospel truth; b. the exhortation, with some degree of urgency, to accomplish something in the name of Christ, and c. the invitation to respond. Intentional or not, Jesus began his ministry…

Did your mother ever say any of the following to you?

• I could plant potatoes in those ears.
• I'm not your maid.
• If your friends jumped off a cliff does that mean you have to jump too?
• Just wait till you have kids of your own!
• Don't talk with food in your mouth!
• You weren't born in a barn, so stop acting like you were!

And of …

Saint Paul reminds us that we ought to pray, make intercession for, and thank God for all those in authority, "so that our common life can be lived in peace and quiet." He reminds us that "those in authority are given this authority from God for the maintenance of law and order and for the punishment of evil doers." If we pray for good government, good law and order, and good schools, we must be willing to play our part …

For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors d…

A Lutheran professor named David Rhoads points out that in Mark "Jesus wields authority over demons, illnesses (when people have faith), and natural forces (seas, deserts, trees) - nonhuman forces that oppr…

A pastor was talking to his farmer friend, and he asked the farmer, “If you had one hundred horses, would you give me fifty?” The f…

Have you ever been in a heated argument with someone and couldn't let the matter drop? You just had to continue making your point. Why? Because you had to have the last word.

If you have ever been in a classroom discussion, you have discovered the importance of that class reaching some sort of resolution and conclusion to the discussion. Students will often look to the teacher to settle the matter. The teacher has the last word.

If you ever watched Ted Koppel on the late night television show Nightline, you saw him struggle with trying to be fair in dealing with…

Well-known biblical scholar and translator, J. B. Phillips, has lamented that many Christians today are living on the spiritual capital of the past a spiritual capital that is rapidly being depleted. Says the Rev. Dr. Phillips, "Our society ... bears all the marks…

Jesus' mandate to his disciples is to travel lightly and keep moving. Nowhere do we see him sitting down with the twelve and a map, or a snakebite kit, or a store of provisions, or a feasibility study, or a specific set of "goals,""strategies" and "objectives." Jesus gives the disciples (at times as confused and uncomprehending a lot as ever there has been) only what they need most: a mission and the authority to ca…

Stock market guru Jim Cramer, host of television's Mad Money, says, "Bulls make money."  Then he adds, "Bears make money." Then the punch line, "Pigs get slaughtered." "Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered." He is saying, "Beware of being greedy when you are investing in the stock market. You may overreach and lose everything."

Jesus said somewhat the same thing.  He …

Howard Maxwell, the politician, tells the story of his four year old daughter, Melinda. As children often do, Melinda developed a fixation on the story of "The Three Little Pigs." Every time her father came around, Melinda wanted him to read it to her. Well, for adults, a little "Three Little Pigs" goes a long way.

The father, being both modern and inventive, got a tape recorder,…

There is a story of two lawyers on opposing sides of a case. During the trial, one thought he would make a great impression on the jury by quoting from the Bible. So he said, concerning his opponent’s client, “We have it on t…

I was just as naive as I was sincere when I wrote a letter to a missionary in Papua, New Guinea. I was a 19-year-old college student trying to make sense out of the Bible. I was reading the gospels with an ardent desire to believe what I was reading but I kept getting hung up on these stories about demon exorcisms. If the gospels were true then there were real demons in the world and yet I didn't see anyone but quacks and nut cases doing demon exorcisms on TV.

Someone in my college campus ministry suggested to me that we no longer saw demons in the civilized world but that missionaries in remote parts of the world did. I knew the name of a missionary in the terri…

The Scriptures include a significant number of life-and-death questions about meaning, purpose and value in life. Consider some of the questions posed by Scripture:

• What will it profit us if we gain the whole world but forfeit our life? (Matthew 16:26)
• Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15)
• What are you looking for? (John 1:38)
• Who is my neighbor? (Like 10:29)
• What must I do to …

It seems the scribes were always around. In our scripture we learn that Jesus was at his home in Capernaum. When word spread throughout the community, a great crowd gathered inside and out the house, prevailing upon Jesus to teach them. We are told that some of the scribes "were sitting there questioning in their hearts." Why were they there anyway? Out of curiosity? To heckle? To find fault? Were they acquaintances of Jesus that they could come into his home and find a place to sit while so many others were standing? I don’t know ... but it seems the Scriptures always bear the same foreboding comment, "the scribes were sitting there," or "nearby." At any rate, on this particular occasion, they got their eyes full.

First, there was a commotion. Four men were literally dismantling the roof…

Though it is hard to pen scripture down on exactly what role government has in the Christian's life, the following is offered as a starting point: The general function of human government, as instituted by God, may be said to be threefold: to protect, punish, and promote.

• The Function of Protection: The moment Adam sinned it was obvious that civilizations would need some form of restraint and rule to protect citizens from themselves. An example of this function is seen in Acts 21:27-37 where Roman soldiers step in and save Paul from being murdered by his own enraged countrymen in Jerusalem.
• The Function of Punishment: Both Paul and Peter bring this out. Paul writes that duly appointed human officials are to be regarded as God's servants to "bear the sword," that is, to impose punishmen…

Every conscientious parent recognizes how difficult it is to exercise his God-given authority over his children. The delicate balance of being tough yet tender is not easy to maintain. Many parents intensify a rebellious spirit by being di…

A television program, The People’s Court, involves a real-life judge presiding over actual courtroom cases. The judge sits behind the bench wearing a black robe, pronouncing final decisions pertaining to legal disputes. When you and I hear the term "judge," we probably envision such a person as the one just described. However, the judges described in the Old Testament functioned quite differently. Judges were military leaders who were raised up by the grace of God to govern Israel in times of trial. Psalm 2:10 relates that they enjoyed parallel authority to kings. It has been suggested that they were similar to the American Indian war chief whose authority was limited to the duration of a conflict.

The Hebrew people entered Canaan as a nomadic people with one God. Soon following the death…

Before commenting directly about Mark 6:30-44, allow me to direct your attention to two Old Testament stories.

1. The first story is found in 2 Kings 4:1-7 and concerns the widow of a prophet whose creditors were about to foreclose her outstanding debt. Additionally, her two sons were to be carried away as slaves. Beside herself, the widow cried out to Elisha for help. Elisha asked her if she had anything in the house of value which might be sold to provide money toward the debt. "Only a partially filled jar of oil," she answered. Elisha surprisingly instructed her to go throughout the community collecting jars to be filled with her oil. We are probably safe to assume that if she did not feel rather foolish, there is a good chance her sons did. Here she went, gathering empty jars to hold …

Jerry went out to play in the barnyard and as he watched the pigs wallowing in the mud he seemed to envy the fun they were having and soon he himself first waded and then sat down slopping in the mud.

As some friends passed by, one said, "I see farmer Brown has another pig in his pen. He now has ten pigs."

But Jerry stood up indignantly and holle…

The authority of Scripture is so rooted in and closely linked to the authority of Jesus Christ that the two are indivisible. To at…

Several years ago I was a member of the Arkansas delegation which attended a jurisdictional seminar of some sort in Dallas, Texas. Our delegation included an exceptional Christian gentlemen, whose name you would probably recognize, just recently assigned as the Episcopal leader of the Arkansas Area. As a matter of fact, he had moved into the Episcopal residence only two weeks prior to the seminar. One evening as we filed slowly past a buffet table to fill our plates, I chanced to be behind two members of the conference from which the new bishop had come. One of the gentlemen nudged his companion, nodded toward the new bishop, and said under his breath, "Does he look like a bishop to you?" The companion continued to heap up his plate, smiled, and softly replied, "No way." Apparently, they s…

Exodus 3:5 - "Then he said, ‘Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ "

Luke 15:22 - "But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.’ "

The craft of shoemaking dates far back into history. In earliest times, shoes were worn by such people as shepherds to protect the feet against cold, damp soil, hot sands, and sharp stones. These shoes were simply a sole of leather or wood, supported by leather bands around the ankle. Increasing urbanization made the sandals common apparel, thus giving the shoema…

Dr. Lawrence Kohlberg, a Harvard psychologist, has pinpointed six plateaus of moral development. Let's venture a guess as to where our society is currently located.

• Stage one: obedience and punishment. Right is what authorities command. The underlying motive is fear of punishment, not respect for authority or values.
• Stage two: back-scratching. When people begin to seek a return for their favors. It…

Possible Biblical references to Satan:

• Genesis 3:1-14 · He was disguised under the Edenic serpent
• Genesis 3:15 · He is the serpent's seed
• 1 Chronicles 21:1 · Satan stands against Israel 
• Job 1:7-2:10 · He accused and afflicted Job
• Isaiah 14:12 · He was Lucifer, son of the morning before the fall (This verse is erroneously ascribed to Satan. It actually refers to the king of Babylon, see v. 3)
• Ezekiel 28:14 · He was the anointed cherub that covers (This verse also is erroneously ascribed to Satan. It actually refers to the king of Tyre, see v. 1)
• Zecheriah 3:1-9 · He is Satan, the Adversary of unbelieving Israel
• Matthew 4:3 · He is the tempter
• Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:10-11 · He perverts the Word of God
• Matthew 12:2…

Kathleen Norris writes, "When I think of the demons I need to exorcise, I have to look inward, to my heart and soul. Anger is my best demon, useful whenever I have to go into a Woman Warrior mode, harmful when I use it to gratify myself, either in self-justification, or to deny my fears. My husband, who has a much sweeter nature than I, once told …

The Public Library has a system called "Dial-A-Tale." Anytime a young child wants to hear a fairy tale, he or she can call a specific number, and a voice will come on reading a short fairy tale to the listening young ear. However, the number is only one digit different from that of the Rev. Tom Er…

There is a famous oil painting called "Christ Teaching In The Temple." The painting gets it wrong. It comes from an era when religious people were still uneasy with the notion that Jesus was like the rest of us. In this picture he is standing in the midst of the elders looking very wis…

Few of our nations' chief executives could match Herbert Hoover's executive competence, intellect or energy. With a handful of assistants, he put together a series of relief operations that saved millions of lives during and after World War I. He was familiar with Latin and proficient in the principles of mining and metallurgy. Yet his Presidency was a failure. Poor judgment (high tariffs and taxes) did him in.

Franklin Roosevelt'…

Billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne. Some of the groups near the front talked heatedly--not with cringing shame, but with belligerence. "How can God judge us?" said one. "What does He know about suffering?" snapped a brunette. She jerked back a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. "We endured terror, beatings, torture, death!" In another group a black man lowered his collar. "What about this?" he demanded, showing an ugly rope burn. "Lynched for no crime but being black! We have suffocated in slave ships, been wrenched from loved ones, toiled till death gave release." Far out across the plain were hundreds of such groups. Each had a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He permitted in His world. How lucky God was …

The story is told of a farmer who went into town for a little breakfast. As his meal was set b…

An ethics professor at Princeton Seminary asked for volunteers for an extra assignment. About half the class met him at the library to receive their assignments. The professor divided the students into three groups of five each. He gave the first group envelopes telling them to proceed immediately across campus to Stewart Hall. He told them that they had 15 minutes and if they didn't arrive on time, it would affect their grade. A minute or two later, he handed out envelopes to five others. They were also to go over to Stewart Hall, but they had 45 minutes. The third group had three hours to get to Stewart Hall. The students weren't aware of it, but the professor had arranged for three drama students to meet them a…

Freidrich Nietzsche drew the distinction between a servant morality and a master morality with disturbing clarity. A servant morality adopts values and follows a morality which is imposed upon us by others. It negates the self. A master morality, on the other hand, sees the self as the creator of both values and morality. It, therefore, affirms the …

The unanimous Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies in Congress, July 4, 1776

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just …

Zaleusus flourished about 500 B.c. His government over the Locrians was severe but just. In one of his decrees he forbade the use of wine unless it were prescribed as medicine; and in another he ordered that all adulterers should …