God and the Happy Hope Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5 Titus 2:13 In Psalms 42 and 43, within the span of 16 verses we read the exact same words in three separate verses. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again...
What is Wrong? Psalm 42:5 Sometimes the question of the Psalmist has no obvious answer. Why are you cast down, O my soul? We honestly don’t know. We know that we are cast down. A depression may have swept over us for no traceable reason, but it is there nevertheless, and...
Spiritual Thirst Psalm 42:1-2 Context is King, when it comes to gaining a proper understanding of a Biblical text. In Psalm 42 the context is the inability of being able to get to the temple for worship. Exactly what is hindering the worshippers from getting there isn’t clear. We...
Maundy Thursday 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 If it were a normal Maundy Thursday, we would be gathering together for the Lord’s Supper tonight at 7pm. Usually Jon Walker would be leading the service in song with the help of a worship team and a collection of hymns mostly...
The basic formula is repeated three times in Hebrew Wisdom Literature: twice in the book of Proverbs, and once in the Psalms. Here is how they each read: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7) The fear of the...
This is the third of our four passion statements that are printed each week in our worship folders: We are serving as disciples in our community. As we have noted on numerous occasions, our four passion statements are not equally ultimate – they do not all bear equal weight and importance...
Among the traditions of summer is the tradition of summer reading – books that are good for taking to the beach – you find lists of such books in the early summer editions of weekend newspapers. Our own church library hosts a summer reading challenge. There are worse things...
In Matthew 25 we find Jesus telling a parable about the final judgment – He ushers us to the end of the age and takes a picture of what will be found there. In that picture, His people – the spiritually safe – are described this way: 34 Then the King will say to those on...
On Christmas night of 1987 I sat up reading the opening chapters of an author I had really never heard of before. The book was John Piper’s ‘Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.’ The opening sentences from the preface of the book read this way, “This...
I have been attracted back again and again to John 17:19 recently. There are a couple simple and yet profound statements there that are designed to completely transform our self-understanding, and fill us with a sense of the incredible depth of the opportunity that is laid before us as...
