By Jerry Price Retired Pastor, Spring Hill Focal Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-12  God chose Abraham and his descendants to be His special, separate people. It was to be a unique relationship which excluded all others — made clear in commandment number two in Exodus 20:3 (see also Deuteronomy 5:7; 6:14; II Kings 17:35).  There were several reasons for that. One is that God knew the negative influences the peoples of

By Jerry Price Retired Pastor, Spring Hill Focal Passage: Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-17 Some of you, like me, are old enough to remember the old Sunday Blue Laws. Most businesses were closed except a few that sold essentials. Even most gas stations were closed. Sunday was set aside for worship and rest from the busy week. I remember one particular weekend when the power went off in our house during the

By Jerry Price Retired Pastor, Spring Hill Focal Passage: 1 Timothy 6:6-11, 17-19 The Jan. 3, 1955 issue of Sports Illustrated contains the story of one of the most unusual plays in football history. It occurred in the 1929 Rose Bowl between Georgia Tech and the California Golden Bears. During the second quarter, with the game tied at 0 to 0, Roy Riegles picked up a Georgia Tech fumble and

By Jerry Price Retired Pastor, Spring Hill Focal Passage: Philippians 4:10-20 The late Dr. E. Stanley Jones once wrote: “The art of living is the least learned of all arts. Man has learned the art of existing, of getting by somehow with the demands of life, of escaping into half answers; but he knows little about the art of living, about being able to walk up to life, with all

By Jerry Price Retired pastor Focal Passage: Philippians 4:4-9  I met one of my best friends in 1964 at Park Avenue Baptist Church in Nashville. We have been to school together twice, worked in the same place twice, and shared an apartment together at one school. He was the best man at my wedding 46 years ago. There is not a lot that we don’t know about each other. Someone

By Jerry Price Retired pastor Focal Passage: Matthew 6:25-34  Merrill Tenney, my major professor at Wheaton Graduate School, often admonished those in his classes with this familiar statement: “Any text, taken out of context, is nothing more than a pretext.” He hammered that point home so often that it became ingrained in me and my fellow-students. So, it has become natural for me to ask: “What is the context of

By Mike Kemper Retired Baptist Pastor & Director of Missions Focal Passage: II Chronicles 17:1-13 Living life that sets a good example for others, especially for your own children and family is a worthy effort. King Asa, though he had his failures, had sought to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He had acted with courage strengthening himself and his people commanding religious reform, destroying idols

By Mike Kemper  Focal Passage:  II Chronicles 16:1-13  In review, we have learned that King Asa was the third king of Judah, the first “good” king. He had determined to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, torn down idols, renovated the temple and commanded the people to seek the Lord. As a result, Asa and the people of Judah had times of peace and they strengthened

By Mike Kemper Focal Passage: II Chronicles 15:10-19 As King Asa began his rule he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. However, before his time, worship and an obedient relationship with God had been token if at all.  King Asa repeatedly insists that the people “seek the Lord.” Though Asa had been successful to a degree, turning the hearts of the people back to their God,

By Mike Kemper Interim Pastor, First Baptist Church, Dyer Focal Passage: II Chronicles 15:1-9  Honoring and obeying God always brings blessings and benefits. Good King Asa had initially done what was right by bringing spiritual reforms. Blessings came. But, consistency in doing right things for the entire nation of Israel had always been “off and on,” sometimes yes, sometimes no.  The prophet Azariah went to King Asa with a reminder