Much has been written, and dismissed, about the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. And I will not try to examine all of the biblical material about this gift in this short post. Instead, I want to challenge one common misunderstanding about the gift and summarize what 1 Corinthians 14 clearly teaches about the gift. First, I often hear those who think that the gift of tongues is no longer a...
The apostle Paul asked the church in Thessalonica to pray for him and his missionary team in the following manner: Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we...
I appreciate the story the choir sung this morning and how you told this story and how you pulled us into this story. But there’s a question behind the story that has really been a mystery for theologians and those who think deeply about such things. It really has kind of bothered the church for 2000 years, and the best way that I can think of to illustrate the question is this. I remember...
Does God plan our missteps or just sovereignly redeem them? I’m reading through the book of Exodus with my discipleship group, and I was fascinated by the events of the second chapter. Chapter 2 describes the birth of Moses, his adoption by the Pharaoh’s daughter, his murder of the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, his flight to Midian, and his marriage to Jethro’s daughter...
I do not suffer. I have not suffered. I am not suffering. I want to make that point clear from the beginning for there might be some who read this post who truly are suffering. To be clear, to suffer means “to experience pain, illness, or injury; to experience something unpleasant; to become worse because of being badly affected by something” (www.m-w.com). And while I might be able to...
Should Christians spend much time thinking about, reading about, or singing about heaven? Aren’t we in danger of being “so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good?” The prophet Micah didn’t think so. Tucked away in the Minor Prophet’s words of warning of the impending judgment of God upon Judah are the incredible words contained in chapter four. The prophet...
Does God really care what I do with the little power, position, or influence I might have? And if He does, why? When God sent the prophet Micah to His people with a message of impending judgment, one of their sins was the abuse and misuse of God given power, position, and influence. Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked...
Everyone seems to be talking about justice today, and with good reason. The world in which we live is full of brokenness, and our hearts cry out for the wrongs to be made right. The Minor Prophets as a whole called the people of God to practice justice. “Let justice roll down like waters” was not just the call of Amos but echoed in almost all of the twelve Minor Prophets. And perhaps...
Whenever we look evil fully in the face, we can’t help but ask the question, “God, when are you going to solve this problem once and for all?” God sent the prophet Micah with a message of impending judgment. God was going to judge His people for their sins. For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the...
Hear you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and let the Lord be a witness against you. This is how the prophet Micah begins his prophetic ministry, but the prophet was sent not to the peoples of the earth. Micah was sent to the people of Samaria and Jerusalem. So why should the peoples of the whole earth pay attention? Because God is the God of the nations. The Minor Prophets make it...
