“Hate” is one of the strongest words in the English language.  For someone to say, “I hate you,” burns down to the very depths of one’s soul.  So, we often teach our children to not say “hate,” and we ourselves refrain from directing that word toward others (hopefully). This makes Proverbs 26:28 all the more potent – “A lying tongue hates those…

One of the most common arguments used against the Biblical doctrine of the necessity of baptism for salvation is based on a misunderstanding of the events in Acts 10.  If you want to have a full understanding of those events in Acts 10, just keep reading into Acts 11.  It is often suggested, “Since the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his…

I heard someone on the radio the other day say something this, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a good idea or a bad idea.  It doesn’t matter if I like the person who suggested it or not.  It’s simply a matter of, ‘Is it authorized by the United States Constitution?’  If it’s not, then we have no legal authority to proceed.  Congress…

Most likely each of us has found ourselves in the same position that David did in Psalm 70.  Read these words and hear his heart, “Make haste, O God, to deliver me!  Make haste to help me, O Lord!” He looked at his enemies and those who were trying to hurt him and begged, “Let me be ashamed and confounded…Let them be…

In that great story about the providence of God in the book of Esther, Mordecai was persuading Esther to go before the king on behalf of her people, the Jews.  Mordecai said to his cousin, the queen, “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Est. 4:14).  Esther was in a unique position of…

A faithful forerunner.  An inquisitive teacher.  A soul-seeing brother.  An evangelistic friend.  A Samaritan woman.  A supportive father.  An infectious leper.  A military leader.  A sick servant.  An ill mother.  A royal official.  A hungry lad.  A demon-possessed man.  A paralytic.  A tax collector.  A civil ruler.  A young girl.  A sick woman.  A blind man.  A deaf-mute man.  A fisherman.  A…

What do you think of when you think of a “multitude”?  What sorts of things come to mind when you think of a “multitude” in the Bible?  “A multiple of people” (Gen. 48:4).  “A multitude of years” (Lev. 25:16).  “A multitude of livestock” (Num. 32:1).  “The multitude of Israel” (2 Kings 7:13).  “The multitude of words” (Prov. 10:19).  “The multitude of their…

The story in Numbers 20 of Moses striking the rock (when he was commanded to speak to it) is familiar to us.  In your mind, what size was the rock?  We may think of something small when we think “rock,” but remember that it gave enough water for all the Israelites (a couple million people).  By definition, the rock that Moses struck…