FIRST PRESBYTERIAN

Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep nor shall your tears run down. Ezekiel 24:16 “Son of man, behold….” Son of man is the biblical emphatic form of “man,” meaning human being, and occurs 93 times in the Book of Ezekiel. When we yearn to pray differently – in order to make the difference Jesus desires on behalf of His Father’s glory – we first learn to unlearn former prayer habits. Forget

Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down. Luke 13:8-9 Christ’s forerunner lost his head to an axe. We hang on to ours by hanging on every word of Bible commentary that identifies the fig tree of Christ’s parable as the Jewish nation. We figure this particular talk, as was the viper talk, was for “them,” not us. We are barely off the hook when the vine talk of John

Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down. Luke 13:8-9 The hothouse Christian would just as soon grow ornamental fruit. His face grows waxen at the prospect of a spirited worker showing up armed with a spade and sheep dung. While getting his fly swatter and face mask, Mr. Fastidious glimpses an even more ominous device of demise on the man’s handcart. He cannot bri

We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ… 2 Corinthians 10:5 After seeing the risen Lord on the Damascus road, Saul was blinded for three days. That is when it dawned on him that in persecuting the Church, he rose up against Jesus, the Light of the World, personally. To the astonishment or consternation of many, he emerged from the encounter as the missionary to the Gentiles. Once he showed up in Jer

We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ… 2 Corinthians 10:5 Undeniably, Paul was the big gun in God’s arsenal of choice weapons. The Apostle was born in the university city of Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia (in modern Turkey). The advantage of this background was threefold: he was of Roman citizenship, of Greek culture, and of Jewish faith. Within the span of a mere thirty-seven years after Christ’s

And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them. Acts 15:32 Did those Gentile converts come to see themselves as being on fire for the Lord? What if theirs was nothing more than a flash in the pan, given their more accommodating “anything goes” culture? Flintlock muskets used to have small pans to hold charges of gun powder. The flare-up of gunpowder witho

And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and strengthened them. Acts 15:32 The letter was short and sweet. “The apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some

…The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Matthew 27:51 God had banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden lest they eat fruit from the Tree of Life and live forever. Old Testament believers were left in the dark about the “eternal life” that we, as God’s Easter people, have come to understand it. That is precisely why Paul wrote to Timothy

…The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Matthew 27:51 One commentator called this the gospel writer’s “weirdest passage.” Some chose the term “enigmatic.” The most acclaimed early church fathers such as Jerome, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas, all held to the historicity of the resurrection of those New Testament era saints. Matthew Henry (16

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak anymore in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9 When our “season of lament” overlaps with Lent, it does not mean we discredit the promise of Easter joy by seeking counsel from the author of the Book of Lamentations. The “weeping prophet” fully owned his humanity, as we are allowed to admit to ours. The God incarnate in His Son Jes

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak anymore in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9 Poll the members of your congregation and ask who among them is on fire for the Lord. Do expect a mix of perplexed looks, stony silence, and nervous laughter. This makes you feel for the flustered stand-up comic whose every joke falls flat. Get over your mortification and have a chat

LENT commemorates Christ’s fast in the desert where Satan first tempted Him to turn stones into bread. Is my giving up desserts for 40 days a proper tribute to what it cost Him to secure my salvation by that agonizing death on the cross?. Something more biblical came into view when I chanced upon a Catholic mission organization called FOCUS, defined as follows: “Make disciples for Christ. First, we invite people into a relationship with Jesus in our church. Then, we accompan

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1 As Paul pointed out, people are the problem, but in his closing remarks to the self-doubting young pastor, he mentioned only two. In marked contrast, his letter to the Romans concluded with him naming thirty-four as valued fellow workers. To his beloved son in the faith he wrote, “Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me.” A hymn written in 1787 comes to mind, since Paul had also told

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1 After listing twenty specifics, the veteran missionary instructs his young son in the faith, “Have nothing to do with such…” How? The cartoonist Harry Bliss has a young woman sit on a rock high up in a remote area and while hugging her dog tightly, she cries out, “Please, meteor, come and just end it.” The Apostle Paul wrote his second pastoral letter from a dungeon in Rome, and his last days were ne

And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it; so he gave him Achsah…as his wife. Joshua 15:17 Admittedly, “Othniel and Achsah” do not roll off the tongue as readily as Abraham and Sarah, or Boaz and Ruth. The latter’s equally widowed sister-in-law, Orpah, went back to her Moabite people at Naomi’s urging. On Miss Winfrey’s birth certificate the name chosen by her parents was misspelled, so the name Oprah stuck for the talk show host. People doing memory d

And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it; so he gave him Achsah…as a wife. Joshua 15:17 Debir was the name of the city that fell to Caleb’s nephew. Known also as Kiriath-sepher, “City of Books,” it was home to the Anakim, a race of giants. The spies sent by Moses ahead of the conquest, reported feeling like “grasshoppers” in comparison. He and Joshua famously opted for an immediate invasion, but became subject also to the 38-year wilderness wanderings

For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus…I urge you, then, be imitators of me . 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 Having yanked out the pedestal from under his own feet, Paul continued warmly, “I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children…I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The gospel, mind you, not through professional training, ecclesiastical

For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus…I urge you, then, be imitators of me . 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 Depending on our denominational tradition, we do call our top man father, as well as the man of the cloth or man of the collar. In non-denominational circles he may be the fellow with a fondness for flip-flops and cool shirts. Many guys wear them, so it could be difficult to discern at first g

Moses, Moses! …put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. Exodus 3:4-5 It is now do-or-die time, but God will not allow us to move on the impulse of a moment. We only have our Midian and Egypt on the brain. Our burning desire for a passage between the two that sounds plausible, impels us to rush at Him as our Helper. He, however, has shown up as the Holy One of Israel. His chief motivation is Covenant. In our very personal appo

Moses, Moses! …put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. Exodus 3:4-5 Are we as curious about the burning bush as Moses was? His landmark encounter with God would take him from tending sheep in Midian to masterminding Israel’s exodus from hostile Egypt. If our curiosity sends us to the Bible dictionary, we find that the information listed under Vegetable Kingdom cannot deliver the spark of illumination that leaps from the plai