November 26, 2013

“Consider Your Ways!”

Haggai 1:7

Haggai prophesied during the reign of King Darius (Haggai 1:1). This man was referred to elsewhere as “Darius the Mede” (Daniel 5:31) and “Darius king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24). He was the head of the Medes and Persians when they overthrew Babylon (Daniel 5:28, 30-31).

Haggai prophesied about the need to rebuild the temple. This was necessary because the temple – as well as the city of Jerusalem – had previously been destroyed by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:8-9). Later, God called Cyrus king of Persia to allow the temple to be rebuilt (Ezra 1:1-2). However, these reconstruction efforts were stopped by threat of force (Ezra 4:4-7, 23-24). Work on the temple would not resume again until the reign of Darius (Ezra 4:24; Haggai 1:1).

As the people were instructed to rebuild the temple, they were also told to consider their ways (Haggai 1:5, 7). It is important for us to consider the lessons revealed by the prophet Haggai.
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May 22, 2013

“What Am I Still Lacking?”

Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler

When we begin reading the account of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus (Matthew 19:16-22), we read of one who seemed to be a good man with a good attitude who showed a lot of promise in becoming a disciple of Christ. Notice the good qualities we are told about this man:

  1. He was spiritually minded – He was interested in eternal life and came to Jesus in order to find out how to obtain it (Matthew 19:16).
  2. He was religious – When Jesus listed some of the commandments that he needed to keep, the young man said, “All these things I have kept” (Matthew 19:20).
  3. He was interested in improving his service to God – After affirming that he had been keeping the commandments that Jesus mentioned, he asked, “What am I still lacking?” (Matthew 19:20).

Unfortunately, despite the promise that he showed initially, in the end he “went away grieving” (Matthew 19:22), presumably because he was unwilling to do what Jesus told him to do – sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him (Matthew 19:21).

We need to be like the rich young ruler in the sense that we desire to grow and improve our service to God. However, unlike the rich young ruler, we must also be willing to do the work that is necessary to improve or fix what is lacking in our lives.

We might ask the same question as this man: “What am I still lacking?” Let us notice some things that might be lacking in our service to God so we can see the areas in which we may need to improve.
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February 13, 2013

Our Entertainment Culture

Darth Vader

Our society is saturated with entertainment in various forms – movies, television, music, internet videos, professional and collegiate sports, etc. Even during a time of economic hardship and uncertainty, Americans are paying billions of dollars a year in movie ticket sales alone. While occasional entertainment may be fine, we need to let our consumption of entertainment be regulated by the Scriptures.

In evaluating our entertainment consumption, we should ask ourselves some basic questions:
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February 7, 2013

Seek First His Kingdom

Matthew 6:33

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned against one dividing his allegiance to God. He said that an attempt to do this could not possibly be done with the Lord’s approval.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).

Jesus specifically mentioned wealth here as an object that would distract one from wholeheartedly serving God. But this principle is not limited to wealth. His point was that we must not allow anything to distract or hinder us from our service to God.
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January 15, 2013

Should Preaching About Homosexuality Be a Priority?

Louie Giglio, pastor of the Passion City Church in Atlanta, was invited to deliver the benediction during the President’s inauguration. He has since withdrawn from participating in the event after some “gay-rights” advocates protested. The following quote was included in the article linked above. It is from a sermon of Giglio’s from the 1990’s and was the cause of the opposition against his participation in the inauguration.

“If you look at the counsel of the word of God, Old Testament, New Testament, you come quickly to the conclusion that homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle… homosexuality is not just a sexual preference, homosexuality is not gay, but homosexuality is sin. It is sin in the eyes of God, and it is sin according to the word of God. You come to only one conclusion: homosexuality is less than God’s best for his creation.”

I know nothing about anything else Giglio teaches or has taught, but his remarks above about homosexuality being a sin are exactly correct. In every dispensation, homosexuality has been an abomination in the eyes of God. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly destroyed for this sin (Genesis 19:4-13; Jude 7). The Law of Moses clearly condemned the practice: “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22; cf. 20:13). Even in the New Testament, homosexuality is said to be “unnatural,” “indecent,” and “contrary to sound teaching” (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Timothy 1:10). Paul told the brethren in Corinth that the sin of homosexuality, if not repented of and abandoned, would prevent one from inheriting the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9).
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November 25, 2012

“Whatever a Man Sows, This He Will Also Reap” (11/25)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Galatians 4-6.

Paul warned the saints in the churches of Galatia of the importance of sowing the proper seed in order to be able to reap the desired harvest.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

When he told them not to be deceived and that God was not mocked, he warned them not to think that they would prove to be the exception to the rule. If we wish to reap spiritual rewards, we must sow “to the Spirit” (Galatians 6:8).

In the first ten verses of this chapter, Paul mentioned three examples of how to sow in order to receive a reward.
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October 27, 2012

“Blessed is Everyone Who Will Eat Bread in the Kingdom of God” (10/27)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Luke 14-15.

“When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, ‘Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’” (Luke 14:15).

Jesus had just given instructions regarding wedding feasts and other social meals – when invited, exercise humility; when inviting, exercise compassion. This prompted someone to make this statement about the kingdom of God. It certainly is true that it is a great blessing to be part of God’s kingdom. But as Jesus pointed out in the following parable, many will choose the things of this life over the things of the kingdom.
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