In the closing remarks of the second epistle that the apostle Paul wrote to the “church of the Thessalonians in God our Father the Lord Jesus Christ,” he wrote, “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thessalonians 3:16). In all of the trials, tribulations, disappointments and struggles in this life, children of God can find peace in our Savior Jesus Christ who is the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Edward J. Bickersteth was on vacation in Harrogate, England, and on one Sunday in August, 1875, he listened to a sermon by Canon Gibbon that was based on Isaiah 26:3. It reads, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” He was greatly impressed by the thoughts presented on this text. It was then that he took a piece of paper and began to write a poem that would become the moving and beautiful hymn, “Peace, Perfect Peace.” In this hymn, you will observe that in each stanza there is a challenge or a struggle presented for the believer. Then, for each struggle, the author provides spiritual answers in the second half of each stanza. Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?To do the will of Jesus — this is rest.Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.Peace, perfect peace, with loved …

Several years ago, I read and appreciated some practical suggestions as penned by an unidentified author. Mixing his commentary with mine, here are some suggestions worth considering. Yes, as another said, prayer is indeed our personal barometer that measures our personal relationship with the Lord. Use it readily and often.

Most of us love holidays and festivals – the glitter, the colors, the presents, the special schedules, and of course, the Peanuts TV specials! What is wrong with these things? In principle, absolutely nothing at all. Special days on the calendar give us opportunities to celebrate our lives in particular ways, and half the fun is in the anticipation and preparation. A point to note is that “holiday” comes from the phrase “holy day.” Many of our fun days we celebrate started as religious observances. For many, that religious connection is real and still relevant. There’s the rub [problem]. Special days are fine as long as we don’t confuse our calendar with God’s calendar. There are two concerns here. First, in the Old Testament, there were many special days of religious significance that God ordained, such as the Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, Atonement and others (Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 16). While the Old Covenant was in force, God expected the Jews to follow such a calendar. However, now, we are under the New Testament exclusively (Romans 10:4; 2 Corinthians 3:5-6; Colossians 2:13-17). The New Testament has no such calendar, and we are forbidden to create one (1 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 4:8-11). So, commands today for the Christian to keep the Sabbath are false. Also, to teach that manmade holidays are to be kept as holy to God, such as Christmas and Easter, is to teach falsely (Colossians 2:20-23). Personal devotion to a particular day is to be kept private and personal (Romans 14:5-6, …

Since we are about to begin a new year, it may be appropriate to think of challenges that will present themselves to us as a people in the coming year. Of course, it is not possible to think of all, and even if that were possible, there is neither the time nor the inclination even to list them. Nevertheless, to look at a few will, it is hoped, do some good. The word “challenge” is defined as a call or summons to engage in any contest. The contest may be physical, such as sports or carnal warfare; mental, such as learning more truth from the Word of God so the faith of Christ does not become tiresome; emotional such as keeping on an even keel by refusing to go beyond reason. When confronted with spiritual challenges, such as remaining faithful to the teachings of Christ, our Lord’s apostles and evangelists remained vigilant for the Christian faith, about which one can read in the New Testament, which was once for all delivered. There are other spiritual challenges such as the temptation to sin or to give up when the trials of life come along. Perhaps, there are more spiritual confrontations than any other because Satan does not intend to make life easy for the Christian. Everyone will have Goliaths to conquer. Furthermore, having to face up to all the Goliaths is not always pleasant. For this cause, effort is sometimes made not to pick up the sling and go to battle. Yet, the Bible itself …

One cannot read the Book of Acts without being impressed with the rapid growth of the church after her establishment in Acts 2 (cf., Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 11:21; 13:49; 16:5). These passages show the church growing spiritually and numerically. Both are important! Numerous passages make it clear God wants His church to grow in faith (Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12), for numbers represent precious souls, and we certainly know that God “is not willing that any should perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:3-4). The purpose of this article is not to promote a particular method but to suggest a couple of areas on which we must focus if we want to see the church grow. Let me suggest first that we must develop a mind to grow. I am afraid Satan has really done his work well and has convinced us that growth isn’t going to happen. I believe we have allowed ourselves to be convinced that people aren’t interested and there is little or nothing we can do to change that. If the church is going to grow, we must develop the mindset that we truly believe it can grow. We must believe that God is still able to do amazing things through His church. Do we still believe Romans 1:16? Do we still believe Matthew 11:28-30? Do we believe that Jesus is the answer to the problems of life? Do we really believe people are lost …

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8) I love these verses for a number of different reasons, many of which stem more from the writer of the words than the words themselves. You and I know Peter fairly well. The New Testament is literally filled with his name, and quite frankly, that name is not always associated with the most appropriate behaviors. After all, it was Peter who denied Christ three times leading up to the crucifixion. It was Peter who had to be told, “Get behind me Satan.” Even after he matured in the faith, Paul had to “resist him to his face” when Peter showed partiality to the Jews. Because of these things, we can often be a little hard on Peter, just as we can be a little hard on ourselves. Yet, in these passages, Peter might as well be writing a commentary about his own life in God’s words. He finally figured it out. Spiritual success is not an all-at-once event, but rather it is an “adding to” enterprise. Spiritual success is not found in a single flash point explosion of spiritual clarity, but spiritual …

I am not much of a fan of professional sports, but a news story relating to tennis caught my attention. Novak Djkovic was going for his 18th Grand Slam. Reports are that he became frustrated and hit the tennis ball to the back wall, which was not unusual. However, this time the tennis ball hit a line judge and bruised her throat. He immediately went to the line judge to apologize and wait with her for the medical staff to examine her. He was eliminated from the U.S. Open for 2020 and will face serious fines. From my vantage point, it did not appear to have been done with wrath but was an accident. To the officials’ credit, the penalty was enforced regardless of his status or stakes. One of the commentators, who was John McEnroe, said, “The pressure just got to him. I think a lot’s been going on off the court; it’s obviously affected him. And now, whether he likes it or not, he’s going to be the bad guy the rest of his career. It’ll be interesting how he handles it.” Strong words from a notoriously misbehaving former player who over his career was fined over $69,000. Perhaps McEnroe wishes for Djkovic to take his place in the “bad guy” category, but that is a decision that will be left to Djkovic as he reflects on his conduct and attitude. Whether one thinks Djkovic had an outburst of wrath or not, certainly his personal and professional reputations …

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the word chaste as: “1. Pure from all unlawful commerce of sexes. Applied to persons before marriage, it signifies pure from all sexual commerce, undefiled; applied to married persons, true to the marriage bed. 2. Free from obscenity. While they behold your chaste conversation. 1 Peter 3:2. 3. In language, pure, uncorrupt, free from barbarous words and phrases, and quaint, affected, extravagant expressions.“ The primary use of the term in English indicates purity in sexual matters. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and used the sexual purity concept in an analogy concerning the congregation as a body of Christ. Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly — and indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1-3) As the bride of Christ, the church is to be pure and chaste, but it can only be such if its members who make up that body are chaste. The analogy in this passage speaks of the Corinthian’s assembly as a betrothed (engaged) woman. She has been promised to her spouse and is awaiting that marriage date. How, then, can she be seeking after other men? Also notice the description of her as a virgin. She has …

I sit in the early dawn and watch the morning glory vine.I do enjoy just watching every twist and twine.It wraps around the birdbath and the gazing ball of blueAnd wrapping ’round the fence rail each bud comes into view.I watch them slowly open, and right before my eyesThey reveal to me each morning, a colorful surprise.In the cool and dew of morning the blossoms open wideUntil the heat of sunshine makes them shrink and hide,But surely, tomorrow at the dawning,There will be glory in the morning.

Let’s take a second and be honest about something: Doing good can be very hard. This is not to say that it’s hard to know what “good” is, but simply that doing good things can be challenging. It’s hard to find motivation to do a good job when the rest of your team doesn’t care and doesn’t try. Unfortunately, you constantly get lumped in with everyone else’s bad work. It’s tiresome doing things for people who never say, “Thank you,” and never return the favor, especially when you have gone out of your way to help. Times like these are when character and integrity are important. We do good because of who we are, not because of the people for whom we do good. As Christians, we represent Jesus. We work hard and we serve others because of who He is and what He has done for us. What we always need to remember is that when we work, we do so for the Lord (Colossians 3:23), and when we serve others, we are serving Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46). Don’t grow weary in doing good. Keep things in perspective and keep moving forward. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9 NKJV; cf., 2 Thessalonians 3:13).

A truth undergirding the call for freedom of speech is that truth is shown to be truth when it is arrayed against error or untruth. When one idea feels it has to shout down another so that it cannot be heard, it is admitting its view cannot stand the light of truth. Charles Krauthammer, a favorite writer of mine, now deceased, said, “I believe the pursuit of truth and right ideas through honest debate and rigorous argument is a noble undertaking.” Long ago, a call went out to opposing ideas, saying, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18).

Our Lord taught that we are to be pure of heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Paul said to Titus, “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled” (1:15). The New Testament words translated “pure” mean, “uncontaminated, free of foreign matter or defilement.” Spiritually, the word means “free from foulness, guilt, corrupt desire, criminal or irregular passions.” The Old Testament uses a similar word, translated “virtuous,” four times. Boaz called Ruth virtuous, and in Proverbs, Solomon used the word to refer to godly wives. Today, we might use the words “real” or “genuine.” Contrary to today’s philosophy, the pure mind chooses what God chooses. Vocation, place of residence, recreation, language — all reflect the desire to have the mind of Christ. With a pure heart, I see my relationship with God as comforting, positive and joyful. I aspire to do His will – to be like Him. If I have real love and mercy for others, it comes from God and my love for Him. Purity of heart means mastery of self, not naïve innocence or perfection. Real purity is hardy, resilient and lasting. Innocence is easily deluded and vanishes when disillusionment comes. Perfection is impossible, and not understanding this fact can lead to disillusion. The perfection God wants is growth toward the ideal, but He loves us while we are trying. We do not have …

I do not know how many hundreds of times we have sung “Just As I Am” as an invitation song. Close to the same idea is another song, “Only come as you are and believe on His name. Jesus will give you rest.” When I heard Dan Rather’s program about the Christian right with the homosexual church pastor saying that God loves all of us and takes us just as we are, without any special mention of what is involved in that, except that he said that God has special love for homosexuals, I decided to enlarge on the subject of God taking us just as we are from a biblical perspective. It never entered my mind, nor the minds of most Christians, that anyone would ever teach or preach in such a fashion that when we sing, “Christ receiveth sinful men,” that it is suggested that Christ receiveth sinful men who continue in sin. Nor would most of us ever have dreamed of anyone who would suggest that God taking a person as he is implies or suggests that because God takes him as a sinner, He leaves him that way. That was almost the idea that caused Paul to apparently recoil in horror as he said, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” If we ever use the expression, “God takes a person as he is,” we should be careful that we explain (though most of us can scarcely conceive that we would ever …

Jeremiah was called into the prophetic office at an early age. When God called him, he tried to excuse himself by saying that he was just a child. However, God told him that He was going to put His Word in Jeremiah’s mouth and that it would be his responsibility to proclaim that Word to His people. According to Jeremiah 1:10, he was set by God over the nations and over the kingdoms, and by the command of the Lord he was “To root smoulders and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.” Jeremiah was instructed by God to “not be afraid of their face,” indicating that the people to whom he was sent would be hard of heart and have their faces set against any messenger who would try to change them. Jeremiah’s message was not one of “suggestion,” of which we hear so much today. It was a message that laid it on the line to idolaters, ungodly priests and false prophets. A sample of his style is seen in 5:30-31 where he observed, “An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” This great prophet called God’s people to “stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and to walk in it.  But …

God is a God of order and structure (1 Corinthians 14:33). God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge has always provided guidance and direction for His people. From the time of creation, God has led mankind and given commands and prohibitions for the overall good of humanity. While God possesses all authority and He is the One who governs the world, He often delegates authority to other individuals (Psalm 62:11). God has chosen certain people or groups to represent Him as the leader to His people. Ungodly leadership can be a hindrance to the work of the Lord. We should be thankful for godly leadership whenever we see it (Isaiah 9:16). In both the Old and New testaments there are examples of godly leadership and how it benefited the people of God. We should study the lives of godly leaders from the past, appreciate the godly leadership provided in the present and be sure to continue to develop godly leaders for the future. Moses: Leading through the Wilderness Moses is no doubt one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. Moses knew God in a unique way that few others ever have (Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10). Though Moses grew up in the palace in Egypt, there came a day when he surrendered the pleasures of Egypt in order to stand with God’s people (Hebrews 11:24-27). God called Moses at the burning bush near Mount Horeb to lead God’s people out of Egypt and into Canaan (Exodus 3:1-10). Though Moses …

Sometimes when doing one-on-one evangelistic Bible studies, people will say, “If I saw miraculous powers, like you say happened in the first century, I would believe too!” At least two instances in the New Testament, however, show that not even miracles were enough to convince some people. First, in Matthew 12:22-37, those who committed “blasphemy against the Spirit” knew about the unmistakable healing of a “demon-possessed” man who was “blind and mute.” While the “multitudes were amazed,” some Pharisees said that Jesus cast out demons by the power of “Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Jesus went on to tell them, “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32). Their hearts were too hard to accept the miracle as proof that Jesus was the Son of God! Second, Jesus unmistakably raised Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, from the dead (John 11:1-44). Although many believed because of that miracle (John 11:44), some did not, even to the extent that they plotted how not only to kill Jesus (John 11:45-53) but also to kill Lazarus because he was living proof of why people should believe and obey Jesus (John 12:10-11). Again, the hearts of these Jesus-rejecters were so hard that not even His raising a man from the dead would convince them! This is reminiscent of the discussion …

Song of Solomon 3:1-4 provides an interesting “dream story.” The story is plainly told, but the application of it can be difficult to grasp. It seems clear that the Shulamite, just a few days before her wedding to Solomon, was concerned about his devotion to her. Several nights came and went, but there was no sign of Solomon. His absence spoke volumes to her about his commitment. She decided to find him and had to go through some effort to do so. Finally, she succeeded in finding him and embraced him with all her strength. There are some valuable lessons that can be learned from this short little story. First, it is logical that both the man and the woman will have some doubts and reservations before they “tie the knot.” Marriage is a big day, and arguably the second most important day of one’s life (the first would be to put on Christ in baptism). When a couple considers the permanency of this move (God binds them, Matthew 19:6, and the expectation is that the two will stay together for the rest of their lives), it can be quite intimidating. Yet, these thoughts are good and healthy. The man and the woman need to look long and hard into the decision they are about to make. They need to have a high level of assurance that “he is the one for me” and that “she is the one for me.” Second, when there are doubts about the love and …

Most people know the wise men saw a star in the East that caused them to go to Jerusalem seeking the child who would be King of the Jews. The chief priests and scribes were aware of Micah’s prophecy that he would be born in Bethlehem. The star went ahead of the wise men to the town of our Lord’s birth (Matthew 2:1-12). Today, people do not find Jesus by following a star, but they should be able to follow the light to find the Savior. Paul directed the Philippian saints, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:14-15). The word “lights” literally means “luminaries.” Our light, like that of the sun, moon and stars, comes from God. Jesus commanded His followers to let their lights shine through their good works so His Father would be glorified (Matthew 5:14-16). Paul said he was a slave in service to the Christians at Corinth preaching Christ Jesus the Lord. He went on to explain that he did it “for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:5-6). Our task is to be a light for the many …