Providence as Illustrated in Philemon – Philemon 1-25

  How much of a roll does God play in the affairs of men? That is a theological “hot potato,” and it has been for centuries. It may be the single most divisive subject among today’s Baptists. This church has lost members because they couldn’t see what I...

February 10

John Meglamare was born in 1730. His parents were Presbyterians, and through them John grew up very concerned about his soul. But concern is not enough. Prior to his conversion he moved to North Carolina where he began to hear the gospel preaching of several Baptists....

Proverbs of Solomon – Proverbs 19:17

  At the meal where Mary anointed the feet of the Lord Jesus, there was some murmuring about waste. In Mary’s defense, Jesus said, “Let her alone; against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not...

Ministry as Illustrated in Philemon – Philemon 1-25

  There is a word in verse 6 which I will take as the spring board for our message this evening. In that word we have an opportunity to speak about the ministry – the human side of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Also in this short epistle, the Lord has revealed...

Salvation as Illustrated in Philemon – Philemon 1-25

  With this message I’d like to start a brief series of lessons on this unique and interesting epistle of Paul. From the outset, it’s appropriate to ask: “Why is this letter included in the cannon of the scriptures?” It is the only letter of Paul which is...

February 3

Henry Toler, was born into a humble but respectable family in King and Queen County, Virginia. You’d think that after the War of Independence the people of that place would have changed the name, but these were not English monarchs. And you might also think that once...

Proverbs of Solomon – Proverbs 19:15-16 (Whatever!)

  I don’t understand why, but in reading these proverbs I will pass over a few unimpressed to expound them. But then there will be another, expressing the same point, and it will slap me in the face. For example, we have read the word “slothful” in one...

Who is the King of Glory – Psalm 24

  The Christian life involves a continual struggle for balance. Just think about that for a moment. Christians are both fleshly and spiritual beings, and our carnality wants to be dominant. But we can’t let that happen. To put it another way, we live in the world, but...

January 27

On this day in 1682, under William Penn, a decree of religious freedom was granted to the people of Pennsylvania. Penn, as you may know, was a Quaker. The first Baptist pastor to take advantage of the liberty in that colony was Thomas Dungan. To escape the persecution...

Proverbs of Solomon – Proverbs 19:3 (Fretting)

  I wonder how many people born after the year 1984 know the meaning of the verb “to fret?” I picked 1984 because that is the year which begins the age group sometimes called the “Millennials.” Those are people who began growing up about the...