Today is Juneteenth (a.k.a. June 19th). I was introduced to Juneteenth while living in Texas. I am thankful to reflect on its significance today, especially living in one of the more racist regions of the country. Abraham Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. In it he ordered the freedom of all slaves in the Confederacy, effective January 1, 1863. It was a courageous step on the way […]
“Wisdom is with aged men, with long life is understanding” (Job 12.12). Father’s Day this year meant church with Dad. Church with Dad meant a morning spent with the men of Adult 7. (For all you hipsters, that’s what churches call Sunday School classes before small groups, cell groups, community groups, life groups, and care groups). I thought I was doing Dad a solid by flanking him in Sunday School, […]
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29.11). There are many verses and texts we’ve become so familiar with that they’ve lost their original meaning and intent. Psalm 42.1, 46.10, and Philippians 4.13 come to mind. We see them elegantly displayed on framed pictures overpriced in the local Christian […]
Today begins my 19th year as a Christian. Eighteen years ago today God said “Let there be Light” in the brooding darkness of my soul (2 Cor 4.6). Though I had grown up a church rat and sat through a thousand gospel appeals, it took the sovereign grace of God to make me believe in Jesus. My problem wasn’t ignorance. It was rebellion. On April 1, 1995, I didn’t necessarily […]
“This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps 118.24) Many of us memorized Psalm 118.24 in children’s choir. It was a catchy tune that is hardly forgettable. God be praised for those children’s workers who helped seal Scripture in our minds and hearts. As we get older we cannot help but wake up applying Psalm 18.24 to the day. But […]
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3.16). Modern Calvinist and nonCalvinist Southern Baptists tussle over John 3:16. Who exactly owns the deed to this hallowed ground? NonCalvinists insist the “whosoever will” is an impossible hurdle for Calvinists to jump. Calvinists insist “whosoever will” implies “whosoever can” which demands the sovereignly […]
“The LORD shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. Then the LORD will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the […]
“For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. . . . I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, […]
“For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe” (Dt 10.17). Moses did his best to prepare his team for the big leagues. No longer was Israel a runt nation and the world’s perennial homecoming opponent. Israel was a force to be reckoned with and Canaan would […]
“We have never been forbidden to laugh, or to be filled, or to join new possessions to old or ancestral ones, or to delight in musical harmony, or to drink wine. True indeed. But where there is plenty, to wallow in delights, to gorge oneself, to intoxicate mind and heart with present pleasures and be always panting after new ones–such are very far removed from a lawful use of God’s […]