God’s Hesed
Psalm 136 has an interesting reverse parallel structure. The stanzas feature key words and concepts like this: “Give thanks” to God (1-3) “To Him” who created (4-9) “To Him” who saved Israel (10-22) “Who” saved Israel (23-24) “Who” created (25) “Give thanks” to God (26) But even more obvious is the […]
Escaping the Second Death
We have no control over the circumstances of our birth. We cannot choose the time, our family, our country. Excepting certain stupid decisions, we have little control over the circumstances of our death. We certainly cannot avoid death (Heb. 9:27). We can comfort ourselves that none of it is an accident. In Psalm 139, David […]
Original Sin and Infant Baptism
If you were to search the New Testament, you would not find a clear example of infant baptism. One might wish to assume that infants were among the 3,000 baptized on Pentecost in Acts 2:41, or among the “households” baptized in Acts 16:15 and 16:33, but this is by no means sure. The prevalence of […]
Abundance from God
In the context of the offering, Paul reminded the Corinthians, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor. 9:8). Giving an offering takes on a new perspective when we remember that our abundance comes […]
How to Never Sit Through a Boring Sermon Ever Again
Preachers generally work hard to present lessons that are Scriptural, applicable, and interesting. But there are times when a sermon seems a little boring. I’m comforted by baseball statistics. In 1923, Babe Ruth broke the record for most homeruns in a season. But the same year, he broke the record for most strikeouts in […]