Mar 10, 2016 | Wednesday
What does verse 3 mean when it says that Job was “the greatest of all the men of the east?” The context seems to suggest that his greatness was primarily a matter of money. The man’s flocks and herds were so large he had a hard time counting them – the...
Mar 3, 2016 | Wednesday
Cal Ripken, Jr, has been nicknamed the “Iron Man of Baseball.” On September 6, 1995, he broke the record of 2,130 consecutive games in which he played. That is something like 13+ years without missing a game. But there were occasions when that consecutive...
Feb 25, 2016 | Wednesday
Life is the condition which distinguishes plants and animals from inorganic objects. Plants have life, but rocks do not – until that life is taken from those plants. Animals have life, but clouds do not – even though clouds move, grow and change shapes. People have...
Feb 18, 2016 | Wednesday
In this chapter Solomon makes a change in his writing style. He drops the autobiographical form of the first two chapters and begins to wax philosophical. He could have put this to music and made another million dollars. Although what he says is obvious, the way in...
Feb 11, 2016 | Wednesday
Here on my left hand, around my third finger, is a ring of white gold. How valuable is this ring? The other day my wife looked at it and suggested that it might be difficult to get it off. It would be impossible to take if off – without using some sort of saw. Like...
Feb 4, 2016 | Wednesday
Some time ago, I heard a news report about a group of people who were defrauding senior citizens. That is not necessarily breaking news, but this one had a twist to it. There was a group of people looking for people who been defrauded. They claimed to go after scam...
Jan 28, 2016 | Wednesday
Solomon, the royal preacher, is musing about life – its qualities, problems and purposes. He has tasted, tested & rejected a great many things – things which lesser men think are important to life. He is dealing with the same things men and women are pursuing...
Jan 14, 2016 | Wednesday
Years ago, while she was on vacation, Jackie’s dog got lost. She hadn’t left him with Judy and me, but with a friend of hers, who had a dog who was friends with Kujo. Well, this lady made a trip out to Tum Tum, on the Spokane River, west of the city. Kujo got away and...
Jan 7, 2016 | Wednesday
This scripture sets before us principles too high for us to attain without the direct blessing of God. But there is also a word in this text which is so secular and human that it surprises us. Paul says, “Here is something I greatly ‘wish’ – WISH – even your...
Dec 31, 2015 | Wednesday
John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, had become an old man – perhaps an old man before his time. He had done much to glorify his Saviour, and he had suffered much in the process. Perhaps while still in exile, or while still under torture, the Lord gave to him...
Dec 24, 2015 | Wednesday
On Argonne Street, north of Broadway, close to Starbucks, there is a huge bilboard sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. I have only glanced at it in passing, so some of my details might be slightly off. It is illustrated by one of those Renaissance paintings of the...
Dec 17, 2015 | Wednesday
I remember as a child visiting a place where it appeared that everything was wacky and lopsided. It was in the Black Hills of western North Dakota – the first mountains we came to going west from Omaha. People walked as though they had weights on one side of their...
Dec 10, 2015 | Wednesday
David is described as “a man after God’s own heart.” What does that mean? Can that description be applied to anyone? If so, how can it be applied to me? I’m not sure that I’m qualified to answer those questions. David was a man of prayer – more than most of us are –...
Dec 3, 2015 | Wednesday
Paul had earlier told his friends in Thessalonica that he prays for them continually. Here he mentions a couple of specific things about which he prays. And among them, he beseeches the Lord for their sanctification and preservation. As we shall see, these things are...
Nov 26, 2015 | Wednesday
In thinking about a message for this Thanksgiving-eve, I considered several Psalms. Many of the Psalms are great texts for Thanksgiving, because they voice praise in such poetical ways. Psalm 113, for example, along with so many others are happy and warm. They are the...
