Category Archives: Pastor’s Desk

Scripture Reference: Acts 15:6-41; Galatians 2:11-14 Why are so many pastors leaving the ministry? The reasons are legion: lack of sufficient living expenses, insufficiency of privacy, general apathy (“malaise,” as the late President Jimmy Carter called it) of the congregation, … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Acts 15:6-41; Galatians 2:11-14 In Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, President Lincoln’s oldest son, Bob, wanted to join the army and fight for the Union. His mother objected strenuously, and his father supported her decision. They had already lost two … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:14-16 Believers are not under the law but under grace. However, this does not mean they can live as they please; it means they are now bound to Christ, and should live as He pleases. As a … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:14-16 If you have read the Scripture text, I want you to notice right away that it doesn’t immediately say, “He made peace.” Even though that, of course, is true also, as we will see in verse … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-12 Our Deepest Need – as People The crowd that gathered around Jesus was made up of two principal groups of people, those friendly toward Him and those troubled by Him. The scribes were outwardly hostile toward … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-12 Our Need to Be Useful – the Philanthropists My imagination is captured by these four nameless friends of the paralytic. When I read this story, I imagine what might happen should one of our worship services … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-12 Our Unspoken Needs – the Paralytic There’s a sense in which each of us is like the paralytic. We have needs which we may never share with anyone else, but they are nonetheless real. In the … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-12 There are several interesting things about this episode in the life and ministry of Jesus. One is the characters around whom the drama unfolds. You will observe the crowd of people packed tightly in the house, … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-12 The service was in progress. The house was full just the way most ministers like it. The guest speaker was Jesus Himself who stood to His feet and started His sermon. No sooner had He made … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Luke 24 “Risen” Means We Will All Be Changed When the body of Jesus was raised, it was also changed. Christ’s flesh was raised, but it was also adapted to be appropriate for everlasting life. This was something … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Luke 24 “Risen” Means the Whole Person Will Be Redeemed – Continued The message of the resurrection is not just that Jesus is alive in the presence of the Father. It is that Christ in whole is risen! … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Luke 24 “Risen” Means that Death is Defeated The word “risen” is full of significance, telling us first that death is defeated. From the first sin in the Garden of Eden, death has been relentless. The apostle Paul … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Luke 24 Lost for an Explanation They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. . . . They were greatly perplexed about this (Luke 24:2-4). … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Luke 24 That first day of the week, the three women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, who was the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household, Mary, the mother of James and other women with them rushed to the … Continue reading →

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them” (Ephesians 5:6-7). False teachers had begun infiltrating the early church, … Continue reading →

Scripture References: Joshua 21:43-45; Act 13:26-33 From Last Lesson: God had spoken through Jesus and intended to continue doing so. God had promised the Messiah . . . God made good on the promise. We have the promise of God’s … Continue reading →

Scripture References: Joshua 21:43-45; Act 13:26-33 I have been concerned (and that is being polite), as many of my fundamental peers are, for some time at how in contemporary American Protestant preaching and, in particular, the high-profile media preaching, that … Continue reading →

Scripture References: Joshua 21:43-45; Act 13:26-33 From Last Lesson: The Lord is speaking to Joshua with these instructions: “Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. … Continue reading →

Scripture References: Joshua 21:43-45; Act 13:26-33 The issue is one of trust. Can we trust God? We live in a world that makes us ask that question, and asking it does not brand us as either disobedient or sinful. In … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Romans 1:16; 1 Timothy 1:8-14 Hope There’s a final reason why we can have confidence in the Christian faith. It provides us with a hope that will not die. The hope is expressed in two ways. First, we … Continue reading →