The Pastor’s Pen

Others are unavoidable. For better or for worse, others are integral to life through relationships and activities requiring engagement in numerous ways and with differing levels of commitment. Christians especially need others! Obviously, the most significant other is Jesus Christ, and it is Jesus who determines the priority of the others in your life. Therefore,…

Humility is such a sweet quality, and most of us enjoy being in the presence of it. It has the unmatched ability to grow relationships to be agreeable and harmonious. Uniquely, humility looks not only to his/her own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). The Lord displays enormous humility which He…

Nicodemus was a Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1), and a member of the Sanhedrin ruling council (John 7:50–51). Nicodemus was a common Greek name, and it means “victor over the people.” He was Israel’s leading teacher, they listened when he spoke. Here is Nicodemus sneaking around at night to get a secret…

Gideon, who lived approximately 1175-1100 BC, abruptly appears on the pages of Scripture when secretly he was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianite enemies. Looking up, Gideon sees the angel of the Lord sitting under an Oak tree (Judges 6:11). Israel had been worshiping idols for many years while…

A key person in Old Testament history is Reuben, whose name means “behold, a son.” Reuben was the first son born to Jacob and Leah and lived approximately 1775-1675 BC. Despite growing up in a family with great tension between his mother and Aunty Rebecca, who shared both the same house and husband, Reuben turned…

Hezekiah was one of only a few righteous kings who did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God (2 Chronicles 31:20). 2 Kings 18:5 tells us that Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, …so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those…

There are few things in life as exasperating as foolishness. The attributes that combine to make a fool are distinctly human, lack wisdom, and are typically embedded with sin. To varying degrees all of humanity is guilty, and none of us can honestly claim to have escaped the clutches of foolishness. The zenith of foolishness…

Lot is a perplexing man who knew the truth of God yet followed the sinful passions of his heart. Certain of circumventing divine judgement, Lot stubbornly blundered on with the life of his choosing. Wrong choices, bad company, and a life of hypocrisy were calculated risks Lot settled for. The lengthy story spans Genesis chapters…

Believers in Jesus Christ are never abandoned by God, nor are they ever without a voice in heaven. Just as the work of Christ and the Holy Spirt powerfully actioned our salvation, so these two members of the Godhead continuously defend us before God the Father. Isaiah, prophesying of the coming Messiah, foretold that Jesus…