The Bible has a lot to say about about water. The message of scripture is framed in many different ways in order that as many people as possible understand. Everything from kings and their armies to a woman sweeping the floor is used to illustrate what the Kingdom of God is like. Jesus told parables about sowing seeds, harvesting grain, searching for pearls, buying oil for lamps, all things that regular people could understand. It should come as no surprise then that water is used in the Old and New Testaments because every living thing needs water. But I want to focus more specifically on the things people do in or on the water. Continue reading
Category Archives: Bible
Sermons Online
It is true that I haven’t blogged in a while but I have been preaching. The Sermons Archive page on our church website has been updated with sermons from Acts chapters 8, 9 and 10. Saul beings preaching the Gospel in the 9th chapter and Peter preaches the Gospel to Gentiles in chapter 10 so lots of good stuff in there. If anyone has been wondering what I’ve been up, well there it is.
Sermons page at UnityBaptist.Church
A Christian Response to Racism
Perhaps a better title would be A Scriptural Response to Racism but this is copied and pasted directly from a Facebook post I put up yesterday. There is so much upheaval in the world today and we are bombarded with information from traditional media to social media 24/7. When it gets to be too much, the Christian believer needs to step back, take a breath, and remember that we are in the world but not of the world.
I don’t mean an official resolution passed by any group of representatives from any church denomination; my congregation will tell you that we read a lot of scripture. Every sermon, every Wednesday night Bible study, every Sunday school lesson begins with reading scripture and keeps going back to it. So this is not any particular Christian leader’s response to racism, this should be “our” response to hate and racism anywhere based on the inspired Word we live by. Continue reading
“Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin”
There is no single verse of scripture that we can site by chapter and verse number that says love the sinner, hate the sin. You will also not find the word trinity in the Bible yet most Christians believe in it. We use the word trinity to describe the triune nature of God who manifests himself in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is no verse of scripture that says abortion is morally wrong but when seeking the counsel of God’s Word we find many references to the value of human life, that we are made in God’s image, and commandments to not commit murder. The Bible does not say, in so many words, to not look at internet porn but imagine someone arguing with their pastor or Sunday School teacher that it’s okay because the Bible doesn’t say anything about it.Have You Studied These Women in the Bible?
Looking for women in the Bible? Sure, you got your Proverbs 31 woman and your Mary’s and Martha’s. But do you know about Deborah the prophetess who commanded armies of Israel? Or Jael wife of Heber, who drove a tent stake through Sisera’s head, nailing him to the ground? You probably haven’t heard that sermon.
Judges 4 gives the narrative account, chapter 5 is the musical!
This pic was not in my coloring book.
(Just a Few) Things Jesus Said
In preparation for the Passion week and Easter, I’ve been preaching a series of sermons on things that Jesus said. Before we started, a 4-part series seemed like a lot. Now I almost wish we had started in January!
Most of these are taken from the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. They all try to cover too much ground for a single sermon, but let’s be honest: Jesus said some good stuff! I hope you enjoy.
What is the Deal with Aramaic?
‘Tis the season when various broadcast networks and cable channels will start showing Bible films even if they don’t offer religious programming the rest of the year. Look for The Passion of the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth and, for reasons I never understood, The Ten Commandments on a t.v. near you. If you have never seen The Passion of the Christ (2004, directed by Mel Gibson) be prepared for subtitles. The dialogue of the entire film is spoken in Aramaic. Continue reading
Taming the Tongue?
James 3:1-12 is a well known portion of scripture about the mighty fires set by a small tongue. We put bits in horses mouths and rudders on great ships to steer them, and the tongue is a small member as well that boasts of great things.
The ESV and NIV subject headings title this passage Taming the Tongue. I prefer the NKJV headline, The Untamable Tongue. James doesn’t give a command to tame the tongue or instructions on how one might do so. He actually writes that “no human being can tame the tongue.” He compares blessings and cursings coming from the same mouth to a spring that gives fresh and salt water, concluding that “these ought not to be so.” He does not say, however, that anything can be done about it.
Your thoughts?
Bible Gateway Plus
Everything that has been available for free at Bible Gateway will stay that way, and they promise it always will. But after “many months of planning, coding, and beta testing” Bible Gateway Plus is now live.
This blog post explains everything the new service makes available, and the list is pretty extensive. You can try the new premium service free for 30 days by clicking here to register. After the free trial the ad-free service is only $3.99 per month.
Did Judas Preach the Gospel?
The spiritual condition of Judas is an age-old debate and not the one I mean to engage in today. I want to add a new wrinkle to the discussion; did Judas preach the Gospel? When the Apostles were sent out with the power to heal the sick and cast out demons (Matthew 10, Luke 9) did Judas do those things as well?
The Master's Table 