While recently reading from Moses Lard’s Commentary on Paul’s Letter to Romans, my attention was captured by a sentence from Lard on the following text: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). Among Lard’s comments on the preceding verse is this statement: “Where God is not feared, nothing else is; and when this last barrier to vice is broken down, sin comes in like a flood”. Is there a sense in which the fear of God is the “last barrier to vice”? The voic

This is strange but calluses interest me. It’s interesting that when our bodies experience pain in the same spot often, our skin reacts by forming a callous. When our skin forms that callous, we experience less pain. If you have done much work with your hands or walked barefoot outside often, you know exactly what I’m talking about. However, calluses can be dangerous. Not the kind that form on our skin, but the ones that form on our heart. In Ephesians 4, Paul contrasts a

Do you remember what you learned when you were in the 2nd grade? If you are like me, you probably don't remember what you had for lunch yesterday. That doesn't mean you or I didn't eat or that we still don't know those elementary truths. These are probably just some things that we don't give much thought to, but they still matter. Our congregation recently lost two assets, two special people, two sisters. Dot Sanders and Doris Newman were the original tag team. Tied at the hi

Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ”Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samarita

When I come to worship, I have the privilege of being in the presence of other Christians with whom I share a like precious faith (2 Peter 1:1). When we cheerfully gather together, I am stirred up unto love and good works by our service together (Heb. 10:24-5) and may perhaps be an encouragement to others. When I sing, I hear and speak words of great meaning. They reach out like a sermon across the assembly teaching and admonishing all who are old enough to understand. "What

Some of the most common experiences in life are still full of wonder. Husbands and wives often wonder to themselves about their partner by thinking (or saying!), “What in the world is wrong with you? How could you possibly do that...think that...say that?” Early in our lives when we are planning for marriage we all wonder what life will be like. We may wonder about the future and our children. We may wonder about the later years and how it will be to grow old together. A

It is always tempting for a preacher to pull out his Greek lexicons and read the definition of the original word translated “baptism” in the Bible. But I have never been quite comfortable doing this. The impression might well be left that one cannot come to any certain conclusion about this or any other Bible subject by merely appealing to an English translation. We do not believe this is true. We believe our translations are accurate enough to enable us to understand clearly

I happened across an interesting little website years ago while doing some unrelated research. The site was the Career Resource Center for Materials Science and Engineering (unfortunately now defunct). It was a student oriented resource to encourage the field of materials engineering and tell how this field of study functions in real life. My attention was drawn to the following quotes: “The human body is the most complex machine on Earth. And just like all other machines,

The purpose for the gospel of Jesus is to bring about salvation. The information taught about Jesus in the Bible is for this purpose (Jn. 20:31). The charge of Jesus to the church is to distribute the gospel (Mt. 28:19-20). As a summary statement of what is required of a person in order to become a Christian, there are five distinct events that must take place. We might think of these events as keys that unlock doors. Until the key is turned in the lock, the door will not

A story from Reader's Digest in 1996 told of a dad who often complained about the problems he had getting his son to clean his room. The son would always agree to tidy up, but then wouldn't follow through. After high school the young man joined the Marine Corps. When he came home for leave after basic training, his father asked him what he had learned in the service so far. “Dad,” he said. “I learned what 'now' means.” I believe that most of us have had similar experiences in

One day Louisa Stead (1850-1917) with her husband and four-year-old daughter went to enjoy the beach at Long Island, New York. While there, they heard a call for help from a young child in the water. Mr. Stead went to his rescue but instead both he and the child were drowned. Louisa and her daughter were left to experience poverty in their life. One day she found some food and money had been left for her on her doorstep. She was so moved by this that she would later write: 'T

It was the most tragic event in history... Yet it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened. It was the saddest spectacle mankind ever beheld... Yet by it came the greatest joy. The old rugged cross was Satan’s greatest victory... Yet by the cross Satan suffered his most stunning defeat. The cross was the greatest exhibition of divine justice... Yet is was the most wonderful demonstration of divine mercy. It was through the cross that God condemned sin... Yet it was the

I was fascinated watching a program many years ago of the man who could “spin the plates.” He had about twenty or so wooden poles that he was going to “spin” the plates on. He started each plate spinning by concentrating only on that one plate. After he had one plate spinning he focused intently to start one after the other. At first the plates looked like they were hardly moving. But as they slowed a little bit they began to wobble. After he had several plates spinning

I was looking at a display in a Civil War Museum when I noticed an old letter. A Confederate soldier wrote the letter to his wife in August 1864. He mentioned some interesting things about the war and the times, but what really impressed me was how he closed the letter. I expected to see “Affectionately yours” or “With love” just before his signature. These words are meaningful and they would certainly have been appropriate. But this soldier looked at his marriage in a way th

Jesus did not quit meeting with His disciples because Judas was a thief, nor because Peter was fickle at times. He didn’t quit preaching and living right because some of His brethren were unforgiving and unkind. He did not quit His post of leadership because He had in His presence the adulterous woman, a gang of Pharisees, or narrow-minded demon-worshipers. Jesus did not quit. Have you quit? What is the reason for it? Any reason you might name, Jesus could have given the same

My preferred method of shopping is the essence of simplicity. Make a list of the items I want. Take the list to the store of choice (usually a hardware store). From there it’s simple. Look. Find. Pick. Buy. Leave. Smile. That’s the ultimate shopping experience! Aarrgghh! But sometimes I’m not sure exactly what I want. Sometimes I’m engineering something on the fly. I may have a basic design in my mind but I’m not sure exactly what materials I want to use. I may wander

In the hands of the average dribbler, a good indoor basketball is worth $30-150. A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands was worth $90 million per year in 2014, even retired. By 2019 that number was up to $145 million per year, still retired (Forbes). A golf ball in our hands is worth $2-3. A golf ball in Tiger Woods’ hands is estimated by Forbes to have brought him $1.6 billion since he went pro in 1996. (Forbes 2020) A rod in our hands will keep away small wild animals. A

The zeal with which people will pursue the toy that their kid wants most for Christmas is astounding. Every year seems to have a new fad—a new massively hard-to-purchase toy. A few years ago it was “Shopkins” (tiny collectable rubber toys). When stores sold out parents flocked to eBay and spent thousands of dollars to get them. Normal retail price? Four dollars! Anyone who went to a store on Black Friday may very well have experienced the same kind of passion. And for what? I

One of the most surprising statements in the Bible comes from the mouth of Pharaoh. It was during the 10 plagues that God brought upon Egypt. Pharaoh could take no more, so he asked Moses to intercede on his behalf and ask God to remove the plague of frogs. Moses agreed and told Pharaoh to state the time when he wanted him to intercede for him. Then Pharaoh said it... “Tomorrow” Exodus 8: 8-10. Tomorrow? Why tomorrow? Why not now? Why spend another night with the frogs

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." (James 4:13-15) Those verses are not only familiar, they are in some ways even comforting. There is a marvelous unkno