Living in light of eternity

  Timothy, the young pastor, faced many challenges in leading his fledgling congregation. One issue was especially troubling.    There was an obvious disparity of wealth among the members.    The Apostle Paul gives some great advice to this young pastor: Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share , storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. (1 Tim 6:17-19, NASB95)   You can see that Paul has been greatly influenced by Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.   When he says, “storing up for themselves the treasure…” it reminds us of Mt 6:19-21, where Jesus said:   “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, an...

  “You have heard that it was said, ‘ You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Mt 5:43-45, NASB95) We are to be like our Father in heaven.   We are to love our enemies just as He loves the unrighteous.   But how do we know He loves with this kind of love?   He has demonstrated His kindness and grace in the world He has created for us.   The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. (Ps 19:1-3, NASB95) Creation itself speaks to us of the glory of God.   His divine nature is seen in all that He has made.   For sinc...

I do not know about you, but I do not like being called “sheep”.  If someone said, “You and your family are a bunch of sheep”, I would not take it kindly.  I would not be proud of our local high school team, “The Fighting Sheep”.  The connotated meaning is that we are soft, docile, peaceful, and harmless.  Unfortunately, that’s exactly what God says about us.  In the Old Testament we find twelve passages that use the phrase “like sheep”.  Here is one. So he said, “I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, Like sheep which have no shepherd; And the LORD said, ‘These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.’ ” (2 Chron 18:16, NASB95)   Jehovah often described Israel as sheep who were scattered, lacking direction, straying, and in danger.  Isaiah picks up on this theme and broadens this description to all humans, not just Israel.  (He also promises a Savior to come.)   All of us like sheep have gone astray, Ea...

For much of my early life I felt like I did not fit in anywhere. When I took the Myers-Briggs personality test I scored ENTP.  If you are familiar with this profile you may recognize what is described as "The Inventor".  This is the rarest of all the possible combinations of traits.  The results stated, "people with this score often feel like they are 'strangers in a strange land.'" I sure did. I often felt alone in the cosmos, without meaning and purpose.  It was hard to talk about these things with my friends because it was such a downer.  Who wants to think about things that seem to have no answer? Of course, when I came to Christ all this changed.  The end of my freshman year in college I received Christ.   But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (Jn 1:12-13, NASB95) T...

  This week I spent the day in prayer.  I prayed with others in ministry locally and around the nation on zoom.  In many ways it was a rich and rewarding experience.  We prayed for our families, our ministries, one another, the nation, and the world.  We prayed for repentance and revival, for evangelism and discipleship, and for issues of deep concern to all of us.  We "cast our cares upon Him" for He cares for us (1 Pet 5:7).  We also prayed for social justice, the unrest and division in America, and other issues.    But as the day went on, I was troubled by a recurring thought, "What about the plight of the unborn?"  In all the groups with which I prayed, no one mentioned the most marginalized and vulnerable people in America.  Now I am not bringing this up as a political statement, but as a moral and ethical one.  Unfortunately, it has been made political, like almost every other ethical issue in America, but I refuse to...

Several times over the past few years I've encountered an awkward question, "Now, who are you?"  How do you answer that question?  Anything you say seems meaningless.  I can give  my name, but unless they have previously heard of me, that's meaningless.  I can begin recounting my resume: my occupation, where I work, how long I've been there, my accomplishments.  I can tell about my wife, children, and grandchildren.  Maybe I should tell who invited to me to this event, who they may know, or my relationship to others they may know. Can see why this question is so frustrating. All these answers are still insufficient.  The best thing I can think to say is, "So who are you?" My passport captures as much about me as any document I have: name, date of birth, place of birth, and sex.  But there are other facts that can establish a person's identity:  height, weight, eye color can help, but some of these may change over time. It seems the best ...

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. (NASB95), 3 Jn 4.   John makes a rather incredible claim in the little book of 3rd John.  He asserts that of all the joys in the Christian life, the greatest for him is when he sees his disciples walking in the truth.  From the Gospels, we can conclude that John was a very excitable young man, full of emotion. He kept a extra close relationship with Christ during His earthly ministry and was actually called, "The disciple He loved." (John 13:23)  I'm sure he derived much joy from his personal walk with Christ and his ministry over the years, which makes this claim even more bold.  He was finding real pleasure in the knowledge that his disciples were doing well in the Lord. This should not come as any particular surprise to us when you consider that he heard Jesus promise the following:             “My Father is glorified by this...