Focal Passage: Psalm 132:1-14, 17-18  Mary Poppins taught us that promises can be like pie crusts — easily made and easily broken. Mankind has become so cynical about the value of promises, that we learn as children to cross our fingers to create a loophole that frees us from fulfilling them. Yet promises are not taken lightly by most people. The outcome of the 1992 U. S. presidential election was

Focal Passage: Psalm 96:1-13  Did you and your sweetheart ever pick “our song?” You know, the song that marked a particular event in your courtship. Every time it came on the radio you thought of each other because the song was a celebration of the person you loved. You probably started singing even if you couldn’t sing! Every time I heard “You’ll Be in My Heart” by Phil Collins I

Focal Passage: Psalm 19:1-11 In May of 1995 I went on a mission trip to Canada with a group of Tennessee BSU students. During a brief sightseeing time we visited Lake Louise where a friend and I rode up the mountain on the ski lift. As we viewed the beautiful landscape, I remember wondering how anyone could deny the existence of God.  The psalmist came to a similar conclusion as

Focal Passage: Psalm 119:1-16 Psalm 119 opens with reminder that obedience to the Word of God is the key to happiness. More than owning a copy of the Bible or simply reading it, we must do what it says! While some people tend to dismiss the requirement of obedience as legalism, the psalmist reminds us that living according to God’s decrees and instructions flows not from a desire to earn

The Book of Psalms begins with the contrast of two life paths; one leads to happiness, the other leads to ruin. The psalmist clarified that the pathway to happiness consists in part of actively avoiding the pathway to ruin. In our walking, standing, and sitting (all of our waking hours) we must avoid the wicked, sinners, and mockers (Psalm1:1) who champion godlessness.  However, it is not sufficient merely to avoid

Focal Passage: II Peter 3:8-18  My family has an elderly friend who will soon be with Jesus. One thing is for sure — there will be no deathbed confession. Why? Ms. Jean has been confessing her faith in Jesus for decades. Whether you were family, friend, home health nurse, or total stranger, she would tell you about her faith in Christ, and that she was ready to go home.  Have

Focal Passage: II Peter 1:3-8, 16-21  When you are sending your child away on a trip, you may ask, “Do you have everything you need?” What if the question was broadened to address your life as a whole? Typically, we would answer the question with several items from our wish list, which may include some critically important things.  Yet when we consider the true definition of “need,” we realize that

Focal Passage: II Peter 2:1-3, 17-19; Jude 17-23  I am currently teaching Contemporary World Religions in Seminary Extension, because the nations are coming to our cities and we need to know what they believe. The course is mostly a study of spiritual darkness. It reveals the numerous pathways, both at home and abroad, that people are taking to avoid the cross of Christ and embrace intricately woven lies. Peter warned

Focal Passage: I Peter 5:1-11 A CEO is much different than a shepherd. In the final decades of the twentieth century, an excessive emphasis on numerical growth began to “flip the Script[ure]” and many churches put the shepherd model out to pasture. He was replaced by a man with surplus self-confidence, a type A personality, and maybe even an advanced degree in business, who knew he could turn the ship