Year: 2019

26
Jun

The Close of the Commandments

Sad and glad.  That is what I am as the commandments come to a close. I am sad because for the past ten weeks I have been meditating on these “ten words” – one per week.  Each one had something to give me.  Each one showed me how to love God or my neighbor.  They […]

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19
Jun

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments say, “You shall not covet.” But Covet has a mother and her name is Compare.  This means that before one can covet, he must first compare.  He must compare two things: what God has given him, and what God has given to another.  All coveting begins with comparing.  Even to […]

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06
Jun

Advent Never Really Ended

“God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet” (Ps. 47:5). I chose this verse of Psalm 47 for two reasons: today is the forty-seventh day of Easter, and we are still celebrating Christ’s Ascension into Heaven on the fortieth day. There are forty-nine Easter Days (seven sevens), and […]

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21
May

A Commandment Always New

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” (John 13:34). Our Lord first spoke these words on the night when He was betrayed, the first Maundy Thursday.  And He speaks them again in this moment. Question: How long does “new” last?  For example, am I still the “new” pastor of Faith […]

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14
May

The Fourth Commandment

A nutshell of this past Sunday’s Adult Bible Class. “Honor your father and your mother.” In a way, the Fourth Commandment is the First Commandment, because it is the first commandment of the Second Table (commandments four through ten).  Paul writes, “This is the first commandment with a promise, ‘that it may go well with you and […]

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08
May

Going Overboard for Christ

“…and he threw himself into the sea” (John 21:7). “Peter waits for nothing more, Plunges in to swim ashore” (hymn). If John is called “That disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7), then Peter should be called “That disciple who loved Jesus.”  Not that John didn’t do that too, and the others.  But we may learn […]

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