There’s one Sunday from the 1970s that I’ll never forget. I had just finished preaching in Fullerton, California, when my friend and radio expert, Al Sanders, came to me and said, “Chuck, this ought to be on the radio.” I responded, “What ought to be on the radio?” Being heard anywhere other than the pulpit […]
Read MoreTag Archives: Matthew
Does God Hate?
Hate is a powerful word. We are taught from childhood to avoid hatred at all costs and to obey the command of Christ to love everyone, including our enemies. So it’s shocking to read the words that Paul quoted from Malachi, who declared that God loved Jacob but hated Esau (Malachi 1:2–3). How can a […]
Read MoreCreating a Legacy of Forgiveness: Cancel the Debt
I’ll forgive . . . but I’ll never forget. We hear that so much, it’s easy to shrug it off as “only natural.” That’s just the problem! It is the most natural response we can expect. Not supernatural. It can also have tragic consequences. In his book Great Church Fights, Leslie Flynn tells of two […]
Read MoreWhy Forgiving Someone Is Hard and How to Do It
Would you like to hold a grudge with God’s blessing? I mean, wouldn’t it be great to know exactly how much of the same guff you had to take from someone until you no longer had to forgive? The problem with forgiving is that the debt is real. Your parents neglected or even abused you. […]
Read MorePainful Days
Are you in physical pain today? Someone reading this is in pain. Perhaps it’s you. Or maybe you know someone in pain. Pain rarely makes sense and often continues without relief. Throughout the ages, others who have endured pain have turned their attention from the temporary pain to things eternal by meditating on passages of […]
Read MoreWhat You Never Expected
The opening story of the evening news was about a parent who forgot her child in the car. The day’s temperature was 107 degrees, outside of the car. The next story was about several people gunned down, and the next one detailed a car accident that resulted in severe injuries to all parties. By then, […]
Read MorePrimary Colours
Physics teaches us that the range of colours you see on your TV screen are in fact all produced by varying proportions of red, green and blue light. Mix these three primary colours together and you get white light. It’s a little different for mixing paints, but the idea of three primary colours still holds. […]
Read MoreSanctity of Life
Just how widespread is the practice of abortion? Are we making much ado about nothing, or do we have a full-scale issue deserving of our immediate attention? To begin with, let’s understand that medical authorities determine a person to be “alive” if there is either a detectable heartbeat or brain-wave activity. With that in mind, […]
Read MorePharisee? Me?
God gave the sacrificial system to the Israelites. In Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy we are introduced to what Paul would later call “the tutor.” (Galatians 3:24). The Law was intended to lead us to Christ, to teach about the necessity of sacrifice, and to anticipate the “fullness of time” when Christ’s sacrifice would ultimately […]
Read MoreFast Results
There’s an old proverb that says “it takes a box of salt to make a friend” – you have to share some meals together before you really get to know someone. During my time at Dallas Seminary, I had the privilege of leading several student small groups as a Leadership Fellow. Whenever my groups met, […]
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