Ecclesiastes 12:10

  Have you not read ?   This phrase is used several times by Jesus when someone was asking him a doctrinal question (Matthew 12:3, 19:4, 21:16, 21:42 Mark 12:26). Many times these questions were asked as traps to try to force him into offending a particular audience or to make him look bad.   Yet Jesus answered this tough question with this simple thought “ Have You Not Read ?”. In doing, so he makes the answer not his alone. He places the burden of answering on another authority. It is not because Jesus doesn’t have the authority to answer, but by doing so he shows that the question isn’t a matter of coming up with your own personal take but seeing the direction God has placed in his word.   Maybe we should do the same. People oftentimes will question our beliefs and practices. They may do so out of genuine curiosity but also may be doing so to pick an argument. Either way, the best answer is often to turn them to the scriptures for the answer. ...

I’ve heard the phrase a ‘motley crew’ my whole life but I guess I never actually knew what it meant.   I had always associated it with pirates and so I took it to mean a crew of criminal types. An association of ne’er-do-wells that have all sort of negative connections. But that’s not it.  Motley simply means varied or assorted. Some things that you might not think go together. That being said the apostles were a motley crew. Fishermen and tax collectors, religious zealots, and uneducated men. Yet because of Jesus, they became a force that turned the world upside down.    In truth, the church is a motley crew. People from all different backgrounds and places. Folks from every tribe and tongue of the Earth. Yet they are united together by the Son of God. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God h...

  Some diseases don’t have a cure but can be treated. Medicine can be taken; symptoms can be controlled but, in the end, you still have the disease. And if you ever stop the treatment the disease will take over.   Under the Old Law sin was treatable. Sacrifices could be offered; atonement could be made but there wasn’t anything to stop the disease. If you ever didn’t keep the law, sin would be there to destroy you   “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God …” Hebrews 10:10-12      That’s what makes the New Covenant so much better. In Christ, we have the means for sin to be cured. The old way just held back sin; the new way takes it away.   So why then do people st...

  I once knew a fellow that you would describe as religious. He had strong beliefs. He spoke out against liquor, lewdness, and the like. He gave out of his pocket for good works. He made it to services on a regular basis.  He never stole from his neighbor, never cheated on his wife, and never lied to his boss. All and very religious.   Expect.   If you upset him, he’d yell at you. If you disagreed with him, he’d curses you. If you irked him, he’d badmouth you. If you did something he didn’t agree with, he’d speak against you. If you made a mistake, he’d tell everyone about it. If you weren’t on his side, he’d mock you.  So, what kind of religion did he have? According to James a worthless one. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.  James 1:26      You can be right on in doctrine and practices but if you don’t consider your words an...