Pentecost

In Leviticus 23:15-21, God gave instructions to Israel regarding the Day of Pentecost. This day was fixed by counting 50 days from the Passover. The Passover was on a Saturday. Thus, Pentecost was on a Sunday.

Pentecost had several names. One of the other names was the Feast of Weeks. It was also known as the Feast of the Harvest. It was partly to celebrate the…

Whose battle is it?

Scripture says in 2 Chronicles 20:17: “You will not have to fight in this battle.” This is a significant verse because of what it says to those of us fighting a battle. In this verse, God is talking to King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites because they were about to be attacked by three enemies: the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Meunites. This was a triple…

What about fasting?

In the Sermon on the Mount, one of Jesus’ topics is fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). He says things like, “When you fast…” (emphasis mine). He didn’t instruct them how to fast; he didn’t command them to fast. He merely assumed they would be fasting. Was this a logical assumption on his part? Well of course it was. After all, his audience consisted of Jews, and one…

Celebration or mourning?

This evening’s sermon got me to thinking about funerals. That shouldn’t be surprising, really. After all, the title of the sermon was Feast or Funeral? One of the points Tommy made was that Christians should be joyful and not sourpusses (see, for example, Galatians 5:22 and Psalm 51:12). I believe the life of a Christian should be marked by joy, but I also believe that…

About Jesus’ “wife”

I subscribe to Audible, a download service for audiobooks. I get one credit a month, and my “month” is coming up in a few days, so I was looking through their website to see what I wanted to download next. This book caught my eye: The Two Marys: The Hidden History of the Mother and [...]

Old Testament Kings

This Sunday we’re beginning a new course of study of Old Testament Kings, so that got me thinking of, well, of Old Testament kings, and which one really painted the most vivid and indelible picture in my memory. You’ve got the “Big Three” — Saul, David, and Solomon. Saul, of course, was head & shoulders [...]

“Take hold of eternal life”

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called… (1 Timothy 6:12) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13) …the fruit of the Spirit is…joy… (Galatians 5:22) At first glance, it [...]