Cheating
Ephesians 4:20-25
GENTLEMEN:
Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping, I’ll send you the rest.
Sincerely,
______________
This note was actually received by the Internal Revenue Service some time ago. We chuckle because the sender was willing to be honest up to a point...just far enough to help relieve his guilty conscience...just far enough to help his sleep to return...but not far enough to make a clean break.
Apprehension
John 14:27
The scene is familiar: a hospital lobby with all the trimmings...soft sofas and folded newspapers...matching carpets and drapes illumined by eerie lighting...a uniformed lady at the desk, weary from answering the same questions...strange smells...and lots of people.
Being wanted, part two
Matthew 25:34–40
Chances are very good that there are those in your church fellowship, workplace, or family who feel unwanted, forgotten, unloved (and unlovely!)—and are more lonely than words can express. I wish to speak on their behalf and in their defence today.
Being wanted, part one
Psalm 25:16
Her voice was weak and fearful as she spoke to me over the phone. It was almost midnight and she kept apologizing...but she was so lonely and wanted someone to listen to her. I never got her name nor her address nor enough hints about her location to follow up our conversation. Her desperate story broke my heart. I actually wept after she said, “Goodbye—thanks for listening.”
Of parrots and eagles, part two
1 Peter 1:13
Eagle thinkers ask the hard questions, take strategic risks, search hard for the whole truth, and soar high above mediocrity. Parrot people enjoy the predictable, routine, rehearsed words of others.
Of parrots and eagles, part one
Hebrews 6:11-12
We are running shy of eagles, and we’re running over with parrots.
Idols, part two
Genesis 35:1–4
Yesterday we talked about how the Israelites began to worship what started out as a good thing but became too much of a good thing: a bronze serpent they called “Nehushtan.”
Idols, part one
1 John 5:20–21; Matthew 6:33
It was the Apostle John’s final warning to his readers:
Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)
“Watch out,” said John, in effect. “Be on guard against anything that might occupy the place in your heart that should be reserved for God.”
The giant that slew David
Joshua 1:8
During my days in New England, I heard of a teacher who quizzed a group of college-bound high school juniors and seniors on the Bible. The quiz preceded a Bible-as-literature course he planned to teach at the Newton (Massachusetts) High School, generally considered one of the best public schools in the nation. Among the most astounding findings he got from the students were:
Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers.
Jezebel was Ahab’s donkey.
The four horsemen appeared on the Acropolis.
Balance, part two
1 Kings 9:3-5
Both adversity and prosperity confront our equilibrium, but prosperity is perhaps the more challenging test. Today we look at another biblical person who rose to the top and kept his balance. The classic example is David. According to the last three verses of Psalm 78: