For today’s meditation, I’d like to offer a little quiz. Please take a look at the ten comparisons below and answer in your mind which action (action A or action B) is holier, more pleasing to God, and worth more eternal reward. 1. (A) Working as a pastor or (B) working as a salesman. 2.…
As I’ve been meditating more on Sunday’s sermon, I thought it would be profitable to consider Ecclesiastes 8:1-15 from the perspective of those who are in authority. Though the passage is written primarily for those under authority, there are some important implications in the passage for husbands, parents, bosses, ministry leaders, public officials, or anyone…
One question I received after Sunday’s sermon about obeying authority and avoiding trouble is how Christians can give up seeking revenge without becoming those on whom others simply trample. I thought the question was good for our church to think about, so I offer it here with my briefly outlined response. Practically speaking, what can Christians…
We humans have an incredible ability to forget. This power is so great that not only do we fail to remember when we have no visual reminders, but we also forget even in the presence of reminders. Like Israel, we can easily grow numb to memorials of God we already have, either by treating them…
I want to return to Ecclesiastes 7:23-29 today as a few people asked me the same question regarding that passage over the last two weeks; I thought it would be useful to address the question publicly. The question is: How does Solomon’s teaching about not being too trusting fit with the Christian call to love…
Our sermon text this last Sunday focused much on bewaring the forbidden woman (or man) and fleeing from her miserable trap. But how should you respond to the sermon if forbidden romantic or sexual relationships are no struggle for you? Indeed, how should you respond to any sermon regarding a life issue in which you…
I’m looking at another Bible question this week, this time about an event in the ministry of Jesus. Question: After Jesus cast out the legion from the demoniac, why did the people plead with Jesus to leave their region? Matthew 8:34, “And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw…
The Bible is clear that attitude is important. Though many religions in the world reduce righteousness to mere external actions, God tells us in his word that even good works done with the wrong heart attitude are displeasing to God (e.g. Isa 29:13; 1 Cor 13:1-3). The question might therefore arise: should I refrain from…
For our recent elder Q&A, we received some Bible questions that we did not have time to answer. This week, therefore, I decided to try out using the Midweek Meditation for Bible Q&A. Here’s today’s question: What does Matthew 6:22-23 mean? The NASB95 translation reads, “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then…
This past Sunday, we heard from Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 that righteousness and wisdom, while God-glorifying and the best ways to live life, do not always result in earthly blessing. While this is a hard truth, the perhaps even harder truth to accept is that God may choose to bless other persons, who seem just…