Serving the community since 1922
Serving the community since 1922
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It’s almost time again for Election Day as excitement, political pressure and intrigue reach their height. We all have been bombarded constantly with political ads, calls, mailers, news and interviews all aimed at influencing our vote, which will impact our city, our county, our state and our country. It is a good time to review what the Bible says about politics and Christians. First, beware of the cult of politics. Politics has the tendency of becoming all consuming, like a religion. And 24/7 media coverage in our time has not helped. News f...
The Word of God is rich with truth that speaks into our souls when they become downcast. “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (Psalms 42:5) The Psalms alone have around fifty laments expressing grief, sorrow, fear, anger, contempt, shame and guilt as prayers to God, requesting and receiving solace and deliverance (Psalms 13, 42, 43, 77, 88). The Bible is full of examples and situations of suffering and loss leading to despair (Job, Jeremiah, Jesus Christ). Anyone can develop a downcast or depressed soul. A downcast sou...
The founding fathers of the United States had strong beliefs about freedom. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” They believed that their human rights were given to them by the Christian God of the Bible, not to be violated or taken away by government (Genesis 1:27). Freedom is a human right on many different levels: political fre...
What do you have to do to be right with God? How can unrighteous guilty sinners be made right before a perfect and holy God? Every person knows they fall short of their own standards of right and wrong, and have some sense of the righteousness of God. Often people think about if they were to stand before God right now, what would happen, what kind of evaluation would they face? The biblical teaching on justification explains the only way to be made right in God’s eyes is by faith in Jesus Christ’s sin-bearing work on the cross. To be right wit...
“Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square… Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.”(Proverbs 1:20, 23). Wisdom in the Bible is available to all, but we must respond and receive it. Biblical wisdom is the practical application of biblical truth obeyed out of love and reverence for God that results in skillful, beneficial and productive righteous living in the world. Essentially, it is effectively living like Jesus Christ in the world. Wisdom in the Bible covers all areas of life fr...
Pride, arrogance and self-conceit are at the root of every sin. Pride is the inflated view of oneself that derives pleasure from the self-perceived greatness of one’s own reputation, status, power, influence, abilities, possessions and achievements. Pride is the foolish puffing up of one’s own ego like a balloon, where every self-exalting action inflates it with more air; and yet everyone knows overinflated balloons must eventually pop (1 Corinthians 4:7-9, 18). Pride distorts one’s self-image and conceit creates a self-imposed blindness which...
There were once two brothers, one a shepherd and the other a farmer. One day they gave gifts to their father. The shepherd son gave the best sheep of his flock, while the farmer son thoughtlessly gave low-quality vegetables. The father was delighted with the best sheep but was displeased with the poor produce. The farmer’s son was very angry at his brother for one-upping his gift. These feelings boiled over into rage, and one day the angry son murdered his brother! This is a retelling of Cain’s anger and murder of Abel (Genesis 4:1-8). It sho...
The old saying goes, “Everyone’s a critic!” How true this is in a world where all of us are sinners with keen eyes to find faults in others. Critics quickly pounce on other’s flaws and point out failures. A lesson more valuable than gold is how to handle criticism. “He that refuses instruction hates himself: but he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.” (Proverbs 15:32). There is a difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. Destructive criticism notices the faults and failures of others and seeks to tear the...
We live in a world full of trials, troubles, struggles, hardships, frustrations and disappointments. Adversities happen unexpectedly and are out of our control. Loss of a job, an opportunity, money, health, or a loved one. "Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upwards" (Job 5:7). The wise Christian expects troubles in our fallen world. God's Word reveals a wise perspective to understand adversity and to make a righteous plan to face it when it inevitably arrives. Adversity turns you to God. Adversity is used by God to turn us back to Him and...
If you desire to live in a world without conflict, then you are living in the wrong world. The sinful nature of humanity will lead to conflicts, disagreements, and divisions. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident … hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions …”(Galatians 5:19-20). Conflict is a serious disagreement over a difference in opinion, purpose, or preference. Conflict may be caused by misunderstandings, poor communication, different values, goals, priorities, expectations, interes...
Most of us every day want to put on fresh clothes. After one day, we want to take off the old and put on the new. This same picture is used for Christians putting off the old fleshly qualities we lived in before putting on our new righteous character qualities in Christ (Ephesians 4:20-24). Biblical wisdom is tied to Christlike character qualities that transform the heart and character. Biblical wisdom is characterized by truth, purity, gentleness, peacefulness, reasonableness, mercy and sincerity as Christians are a character witness to all...
“Without counsel plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22) Success or failure largely depends on the company you keep and the counsel you heed (1 Cor 15:33). Our closest friends and counselors influence our character, behavior and the course of our lives, for better or for worse. The wise person is aware of this and is selective toward choosing influential friends (Proverbs 12:26). The foolish person is undiscerning concerning counselors. One should seek out a few high-quality advisors who are tru...
There is a key that will open many doors, like opening the way to new friends, a better marriage, helping your children and better work relationships. This is a key that everyone has, but it works better or worse for different people. Communication is the key. Everyone knows that life is ongoing communication. What is overlooked is that good and God-honoring communication is a skill that needs to be developed according to Biblical wisdom. The difference between wise righteous speech and wicked foolish speech are as night and day (Proverbs...
Everyone in the world is on a quest for success. Many successful people in history accomplished great things; none more so than King Solomon (990-931 BC). Proverbs is where Solomon wrote divinely revealed wisdom for skillful living and success. Reading Proverbs regularly and repeatedly will bear the life-changing fruit of being able to live righteously and skillfully in this fallen world to the glory to God. Every person seeking to accomplish anything needs motivation that goals can be attained and hope that success will result. All around us...
Life often presents us with choices between two options: good or bad, right or wrong, wise or foolish. Not every choice is black and white, but biblical wisdom proposes that most of life falls into two categories: living wisely or foolishly. Two paths are presented in Proverbs 1:7: [BEGIN ITAL]“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”[END ITAL] “Fear of the Lord”’ is not being terrified and running away from God; rather, it means reverential awe, humble respect and obedient submissio...
One distinctly Christian characteristic is the virtue of humility. No one naturally likes to be humble, a word that is rooted in ideas of lowliness, poverty, submission or subjugation, and debasement (Prov 22:22-23; Amos 2:7; Zech. 7:10). Everyone wants to be thought of as great, exalted, in charge, answering to no one; this, of course, is pride, which is rightly regarded as the opposite of humility (it comes from a sinful heart; Mark 7:21-23). Humility became a virtue in the Old Testament, focusing on one’s submission and devotion to God (...
Few passages have caused as much fear and anxiety as the verses where Jesus states that there is an unpardonable or unforgivable sin, which is mentioned in all three Synoptic Gospels (see Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). Many questions arise in the minds of concerned readers: What exactly is the unpardonable sin? Have I committed the unpardonable sin? Can the unpardonable sin still be committed today? Can we know if someone commits the unpardonable sin, and if so, is there absolutely no repentance from or forgiveness for this sin?...
