James 1:2–4 states, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James’s main command is, “Count it all joy,” “it” being “when… Read More »
Who does the Bible identify as a friend? What is friendship? Words like friend, friendship, or friendly in our English Bible stem from multiple words in the Hebrew and Greek. Below is a survey of these words, leading to a definition of friendship. Though this survey does not include every angle from which to view… Read More »
The lyrics of the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” lull us into the chill of a winter gone by: In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago. Our experience can… Read More »
This short article is my summary of “A Biblical Argument Against Premarital Sex” by Mark Snoeberger in Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 20 (2015), pages 45–63. The passages below are helpful as we seek to live holy lives in a fallen world. Young people, singles, and parents instructing their children will benefit by reading what follows.… Read More »
God created man as male and female (Gen 1:27) with the capacity for sexuality, properly taking place only between a husband and a wife (Gen 2:24; Heb 13:4) for the purposes of procreation (Gen 1:28; 9:1) and relational enjoyment (Gen 2:18, 24). In a fallen world, sex in marriage helps to restrain temptation to sexual… Read More »
Three verses in the New Testament refer to a busybody—2 Thessalonians 3:11, 1 Timothy 5:13, and 1 Peter 4:15. The following briefly explores the meaning of busybody in each verse. 2 Thessalonians 3:11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. “Busybodies” in this verse… Read More »
Paul addresses the matter of working to make a living in both 1 and 2 Thessalonians. In the first letter, he urged his readers to work to meet their own needs as part of their testimony for Christ (1 Thess 4:10–12). In the second letter, Paul commanded his readers to distance themselves from the persistently… Read More »
Paul prays that Jesus and the Father would “comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess 2:16–17) and “direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess 3:5). From these prayers, we see that God desires our hearts to increase in comfort,… Read More »
We must contend for the faith. Jude commands us, “Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). But we must not be contentious. Speaking on head coverings, Paul gave a prohibition against contentiousness that applies to any situation: “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no… Read More »
Wouldn’t it be great if every pastor could look back at his ministry and say as Paul did to the Ephesian elders, “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day… serving the Lord with all humility” (Acts 20:18–19). That’s amazing—serving with all humility. Paul commands humility of every… Read More »