“Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and […]
From the world of secular psychology, we have good news and bad news. The good news is that human beings are designed to fall in love. The bad news is that they are not designed to stay that way. These psychologists say the synapses just start firing differently after two years. From the realm of […]
Americans are good at destroying perfectly good words with abuse and overuse. Hallmark Cards and Harlequin Romances have managed to make “love” sound like a single syllable cliche. Therefore, any discussion of true biblical love has to begin with a battle for a definition. That battle is […]
In Part 1 of this series entitled, “Needs Which Our Wives Need Met At Home”, we set forth and summarized these three needs with the acrostic T-L-C: Time; Love; and Communication. Having previously addressed the need of our wives for “Time which results in God-honoring, Christ-centered companionship and compatibility”, we now consider a second need […]
“…for this brother of yours was dead, and is alive again.” (Luke 15:32b) The First Death and the Son’s Wealth My New Testament professor at seminary taught us to look for surprises in the parables. I see two of them when the son comes with his request to his father. The first surprise? His demand […]
“Do not look on them with pity …” Does it surprise you that God gave this command in the Bible? It is found in Deuteronomy in the context of Moses instructing the Israelites before entering the land of Canaan. In the passage, Moses gave the people this warning from God: “You must destroy all the […]
This is the last in a series of articles looking at the spiritual health of the URCNA. I wrote as an admitted outsider, that is, not one born, bred, and buttered in our churches, and I believe that allowed a more objective perspective on our well-being or lack thereof. Additionally, I wrote as one who […]
Sebastian Castellio departed John Calvin’s Geneva in June 1544. Though he left the city with a letter of reference from Calvin, Castellio departed in bitterness. The rift between Calvin and the first rector of the College of Geneva is traceable, in part, to the canonicity of the Song of Solomon. Castellio had described the book […]
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love…I am nothing.” I Corinthians 13:1, 2 It was the great preacher of Ecclesiastes who cried, Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless. He was speaking about the meaninglessness of life, all of life’s work and riches, all of life’s ambitions, and […]
Who planned the first wedding? As we read the Bible, we note that the narrative follows the history of God’s work in the creation from the beginning (Genesis 1:1) until Christ’s second coming (Revelation 22:21). For this reason, the reader should seek to comprehend the flow of God’s revelation in history from the Old Testament […]