Category Archives: Pastor’s Desk

Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38 “No one cares for me” is the statement that many people in our world are saying. Hundreds of years ago, the psalmist wrote, “For there is no one who acknowledges me . . . No one … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 When it comes down to it, the cross was, after all, not an event outside the realm of politics. The largest, best-organized, and relatively most just empire in world history was executing a nonviolent Teacher … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Some of the alternative understandings of what the cross is about are quite right in their place; others are more questionable. Yet none of them is appropriate if understood as a replacement, rather than a … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 The gospel of Christ is not obscure and deceitful. It does not ask for blind faith, faith without a reason, but it does ask for confession. It does not spare us the decision to recognize … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 The cross of Christ later comes to have other meanings as well as the ones we covered in the previous part. It may be spoken about as penalty, as sacrifice, or as victory. But all … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 When the Apostle Paul says, “Jews demand signs,” we can surmise that statement sets the tone and is the precedent for the visions of national renewal by means of military upheaval which today are destroying … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 The apostle Paul was no anthropologist. When he speaks here of Jew and of Greek he is most likely not saying that a specific race, even less a specific religion, makes its members all the … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 8:9 Believers, People Who Know Christ, Are Rich Christians have in Jesus Christ wealth incorruptible, inexhaustible, and unsearchable. Let us expound on this point more clearly to see that I am right in this assertion. Though … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 8:9 “Though he was rich . . .” Christ was rich in material possessions, rich in the glory of God, rich in the majesty of a King. Isaiah the court prophet, the most adept and cultured … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: 2 Corinthians 8:9 In his second letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul put heavy emphasis on the word grace. This word is seldom used today. In fact, the only time we hear the word is … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Romans 3:21-31 The Divine Provision – Continued Not human achievement, but humble acceptance. A second observation is that going to heaven is not a matter of human achievement, but humble acceptance. In the survey, a woman from the … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Romans 3:21-31 The Divine Provision – Continued Does true righteousness come from trying to live a good life and hoping God will reward our feeble attempts as many in the USA Weekend survey seem to believe? It would … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Romans 3:21-31 The Divine Provision Divine intervention is where Paul makes his second point which relates to God’s provision for our human problem. In verses 24-25, Paul describes what God has done for persons like us who fall … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Romans 3:21-31 The Human Problem The first point Paul makes relates to our common human problem. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In the mind of Paul, all human beings (Jew, Gentile … Continue reading →

Scripture Reference: Romans 3:21-31 Please read the verses I have listed above. Paul’s writing in these verses is the heart of the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul makes two basic points in this passage with … Continue reading →