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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
“…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 […]