Do Not Judge???


Hosea 8-10 Be careful repeating this saying: “do not judge.”  We don’t know the motives behind a person’s heart. God is saying I am the ultimate judge, and I alone can judge the heart. Remember Jeremiah’s words: the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked; who can know it? God alone knows the heart. [Jer 17:9-10] […]

Sharing the Gospel–without words


2 Kings 16-17, 2 Chron 28  We live in a neighborhood of immigrants who do not speak English. This is not a new phenomenon!  Back in the OT times, God allowed a wicked Assyrian king to carry away the nation of Israel to his foreign land. In their place, he sent other people he had […]

What’s in a nickname?


Micah 1-7 In high school, my biology teacher called the roll and inserted a male name for mine. It stuck, and I was known by that name for the rest of my high school years. No apologies, nothing. Nicknames stick and some are less than desirable, and they hurt. Take, for example, a group of […]

Doomsayers Depart!


Amos 6-9 Do you say, but I am only x, y, z? Do you not think that if God can use a sheepherder, He can use you? Or do you listen to the doomsayers who say, leave us; take your message to other people? Amos faced such backlash in Israel, which was not his home […]

Lessons from a Sheepherder


Amos 1 to 5 You may be like some who relate more to Amos, the humble Sheepherder from Tekoa, than someone who wears their Ph.D. on their sleeve.  Case in point, some years ago, I encountered a pastor who reminded me that he was to be called Dr. Jones.  Some unbelievers react that way when […]

Perseverance “no matter what.”


Isaiah 6 Has God called you to a task? Do you stop and ask why me? Do you ask what am I to do? Isaiah heard God ask: whom will we send, and Isaiah answered send me. He didn’t stop to ask all of the 5W’s [= who, what, where, when, why, and an H […]

The Sin of Pride


2 Kings 15, 2 Chron 26 Ever notice that the middle letter in pride is “I”? Pride is the deadliest of all sins and is listed as one of the sins God hates more than any other because it puts self before God. [Prov 6:16-19] It has been the cause of many a downfall.  God […]