I remember once trying to encourage a single young man who was struggling with contentment and sexual purity. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned something about the imminent return of Christ, and he said to me only half-jokingly: “I hope Jesus doesn’t return until after I’ve gotten married.” What the comment revealed in…
One of the spiritual errors that we American Christians can easily fall into is too much individualism. Ours is a culture that strongly promotes individual rights, personal independence, and self-fulfillment, and we can unwittingly bring these same values into Christianity. Now, the Bible does teach a richly personal aspect to our faith (e.g Ps 16;…
Imagine the scene; you hear about such in the news every so often. A man has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. He is not remorseful for his crime, nevertheless a close relative of the victim soon visits the murderer in prison and tells him through tears, “I forgive you.” No doubt,…
One technique I have come to appreciate in the art of storytelling is dramatic irony. Dramatic irony describes a situation in which the reader/audience understands the full significance of a character’s words or actions in a story but the character himself does not. Dramatic irony is often used to create humor. For example, in the…
When I first started marriage counseling while at seminary in California, I felt such great grief over the couples with whom I was meeting. Over the first few sessions with these couples, what I saw was professing Christian husbands and wives completely at odds with one another, acting and speaking toward each other in such…
I’m always amazed at how accurately the Bible describes false teachers. Even today, we frequently see the same two qualities in proud, religious charlatans as we heard in the sermon from Jude 8-10 on Sunday: excused rebellion of immorality and a cavalier attitude toward supernatural beings. But I think Pastor Babij is right in directing…
After the Sunday sermon on Song of Solomon 2:15, I’ve found myself thinking about what Khaleef said about the difference between “struggling with” sin versus merely “coddling” sin. According to Merriam-Webster, to “struggle” means either “to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition” or “to proceed with difficulty or with…
In the Sunday sermon on Ecclesiastes 12:9-14, I stressed that Solomon includes the final epilogue section to prevent people from misunderstanding his book. But perhaps you found it ironic, as I do, that many modern interpreters use the epilogue of Ecclesiastes itself to argue for distorted views of his work! Because of only minor changes…
My wife and I recently went on a vacation to Italy. It was a great time, and one subject she and I have found ourselves discussing are the differences between Italy and America. There are many, of course, but one difference very much surprised us. While in Italy, we traveled through several major cities, small…
As I continue to think about Pastor Babij’s Sunday sermon, a certain phrase in Jude 4 draws my attention. Jude 4 says, For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master…