Samuel Langhorne Clemens – better known by his pen name, Mark Twain – went to church one Sunday. After the service, he told the pastor he had a book at home with every word the pastor preached. The pastor assured him his sermon was original. When Clemens insisted, the pastor asked to see the book. Clemens sent it over the following day. When the pastor unwrapped the parcel, he found a dictionary. Clemens had written in the flyleaf: “Words, just words, just words.”   How many sermons could be described this way? “Words, just words.” So much preaching is “just words” that it has created a conspiracy against preaching.  The...

When I was young, there was a “psychic” whose commercials regularly played on TV. Miss Cleo gave assurances she could reveal your future over the phone. There were clips of phone sessions to prove her assertions. Then she would say in a Jamaican accent, “Call me now!” The caption read: “First 3 minutes of each call free. Must be 18. For Entertainment Only.”  Many make bold predictions about the future. Their prognostications are only useful for entertainment. Jesus is not a part of that list. You can live with confidence in what Jesus says about the future. That’s the message of Mark 13:28-31.  It was Wednesday of Passion Week – Jesus’ last visit to...

Some Christians are fanatical about biblical prophecy. They have an unhealthy fixation with the future, end-times, and Second Coming. It is easy to mock the caricature of the person who goes overboard about prophecy. But those who fit that category are few and far between. There are many more Christians who ignore the subject altogether. They have their heads in the sand, unable or unwilling to look up. The neglect of biblical prophecy is as bad as the abuse of it, maybe worse.  The Old Testament is filled with prophecies of the coming of Christ. Did you know it is also filled with prophecies of his second coming? There are 1,845 predictions of the second coming in the Old Testament. There are 318 references to the second coming in the 260 chapters of...

After Jesus departed the temple in Jerusalem for the last time, a disciple pointed out the remarkable temple complex. Jesus responded by predicting the destruction of the temple. When Jesus stopped on the Mount of Olives, the “inner circle” asked follow-up questions in Mark 13:4: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” The disciples asked two different questions:  A Time Question: “When will these things be?” A Sign Question: “What will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” Verses 5-37 records the Lord’s answer. It is called “The Olivet Discourse.” This is the fullest answerJesus gave to...

It was Wednesday of Passion Week. As Jesus taught in the temple, religious delegations questioned him. They did not desire to learn anything from Jesus. They sought to discredit or accuse him. They failed miserably. As Jesus departed from the temple for the last time, he condemned the religious leaders and commended a poor widow’s offering.  That is where our text picks up the story.  Jesus left the temple to return to Bethany for the night. On the way, the disciples pointed out the gloryand grandeur of Herod’s temple. In response, Jesus predicted the destruction of that magnificent edifice. The inner circle later asked follow-up questions.  When will these things come to pass?  What will be the signs of...

Joseph is the bridge between Genesis and Exodus. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. But the Lord was with him. Joseph arrived in Egypt as a slave. He became a wrongly convicted prisoner. But he was promoted to Prime Minister. Before his death, his reconciled family – seventy persons – moved to Egypt with him. After Joseph’s death, the people of Israel became large, strong, and great. Then the drama begins.   A pharaoh emerged who did not know Joseph. Pharoah viewed the Hebrew population as a threat to national security. Pharoah oppressed the Israelites. But the Lord raised up Moses to deliver his people. The Lord revealed himself to Moses as the “I Am” at the burning bush. He compelled Moses to return to Egypt to tell Pharaoh to let his people...

In On a Hill Too Far Away, John Fischer wrote about a church with a ten-foot wooden cross in its sanctuary. Bolted to the ground, it stood between the pulpit and the pews. The crossbeam blocked the preacher’s face. He had to come down to be seen clearly by the congregation. This is the way it should be. The cross should be intrusive and obtrusive. Unfortunately, the cross is no longer central to our worship. It is ignored and unnoticed on the back wall.  “The hill was far away to begin with,” Fischer wrote, “now it is so far away that the old rugged cross tends to be forgotten.” Mark 8:31-33 strategically places the cross at the center...

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 2 Corinthians 4:16 begins with an assertion: “So we do not lose heart.” It is the theme of the passage.  It is the theme of the chapter.   2...

Warren Wiersbe wrote of a pastor concerned about unsavory businesses that opened near a school. His protests led to a court case. The defense attorney tried to embarrass the minister. “Are you not a pastor?” the lawyer asked. “And doesn’t the word ‘pastor’ mean ‘shepherd’?” The pastor agreed. “Well, if you are a shepherd, why are you not out taking care of the sheep?” The pastor answered, “Because I’m here today fighting the wolves.”  Epaphras visited Paul, who was under house arrest in Rome. He reported about the church at Colossae. Paul thanked God when he heard of their faith in Christ Jesus and their love for all the...

On February 12, 1728, was Cotton Mather’s sixty-fifth birthday. The Puritan minister would breathe his last the following day. Until the previous year, Matthew had never experienced any serious health challenges. He used all his strength to live in fruitful service to the Lord. His signet ring had a fruit-bearing tree and Psalm 1:3 inscribed on it. On the last day of his life, his son Samuel asked his dying father for a final word of counsel. Mather said one word: “Fruitful.” Fruitfulness was Mather’s consuming passion in life and death. It should be the same for every follower of Christ. Fruitfulness...

After the death of his son to a premature aging disease, Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote: “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” The book addressed theodicy – defending the goodness of God in the face of evil. Kushner wrongly concluded God is good but does not have the power to prevent suffering. Yet the book became a runaway bestseller. Many people wrestle with the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Psalm 73 wrestles with the opposite question, “Why do good things happen to bad people?” The superscription reads: A Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was one of the chief musicians of David. He was the director of the Jerusalem Mass Choir. Twelve psalms are attributed to Asaph – Psalm 50 and Psalms 73-83. Asaph was a godly and gifted worship leader who had a crisis of...

There are two kinds of musical keys: Major and Minor. Songs in major keys are typically pleasant, joyful, and happy. Songs in minor keys are often sad, somber, or serious. Psalms work the same way. We do not know the original musical arrangement of the Psalms. Their contents betray their tone. Many psalms are songs of praise, worship, and thanksgiving. Other psalms are in the minor keys of life. They are called Psalms of Lament. A lament is when the psalmist sings the blues. It is more than an expression of sorrow. It is a prayer of faith. Laments are not the kind of God-talk we are accustomed to. In our worship, songs, prayers, and sermons are often triumphant. Spiritual pep rallies have no place for wrestling with sin, pain, or grief. This “Don’t worry, be happy” philosophy robs us of the blessings of lamentation. Suffering, heartbreak, rejection, betrayal, and injustice are inescapable realities of living in a...