Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 111
The weather in Quay County has not contributed to the feeling that Christmas is upon us. To be sure, I’m not complaining about that, but here we are, regardless of how it feels. To all the readers of this humble column, may you be richly blessed as you celebrate the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Consider taking half an hour to re-read the Gospel narratives that tell the story. These are found in Matthew 1 and 2; Luke 1 and 2; and John 1. You can knock those out in the time it takes to sip you...
It has been said, sarcastically, the first words of Matthew 7 form the only text of Scripture that every unbeliever has memorized. “Judge not, lest you be judged.” (Fun fact: there is no English translation of the Bible that actually uses those words. So when you hear this, it’s a misquotation.) This topic demands some study, but the problem boils down to this: Our culture does not use the term “judge” the way the Bible does. The culture now calls every form of criticism “judging....
I’ve run into some avowed socialists online who claim Jesus was a socialist or at least taught doctrines compatible with socialism. Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry and told his followers to do likewise. Apparently, for some, that implies socialism. If we’re going to make progress discussing this, we need to define our terms Despite the rhetoric of compassion from modern enthusiasts, socialism is not defined by the belief poor people should be taken care of by those who have the means to...
Jesus was once asked what the greatest commandment was, from the whole law of God. He answered that the first and great command (primo and mega in the Greek) was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. He went on to give a bonus answer, by supplying a second great commandment, which is that you should love your neighbor as yourself. He claimed that all the law flowed from these two. (Matthew 22:35-40) These have been popularized in our day by the Duck Dynasty television...
In the book of Exodus, we see the clash between the God of the Hebrews, Yahweh, and all the gods of Egypt. God sends Moses as his reluctant spokesman. Moses is armed with the authority to call for great plagues, while Pharaoh is the king of the mightiest nation on earth. In his commentary on Exodus, economist Gary North proposes that what we have here is the collision of opposite religions. Though the original players have long-since passed away, their respective outlooks remain with us. The rel...
It will shock no one to hear that the topic of gambling is a hot item in this region. What does the Bible say about gambling? Is it a sin? If it’s a sin, should it be criminalized? At the beginning, we should define our terms. Let’s agree that gambling is playing at a game of chance by risking your own money for the opportunity to win more money back. Further, the biblical definition of “sin” is the transgression of God’s commandments (1 John 3:4). If the Bible doesn’t say that Activity A...
“Covenant” is a theological word Christians toss around a bit. We all nod knowingly when it’s mentioned, because we’re part of the clique. But many of us have no idea. What is a covenant? The best analogy is with a “peace treaty.” A covenant is a binding, agreement between two or more parties, which spells out how these parties will relate to each other. In Old Testament days, there was a secular use for covenants between nations. When kingdoms went to war, and the war was concluded,...
In the first Avengers movie, there is a scene in which the villain, Loki, forces a crowd of people to kneel before him, and then gives a short speech. He says this: “Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life’s joy, in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.” Our heroes save the day, of course; but, the cringe-...
How do you know what you know? Can you be certain about what you think you know? Is there genuine truth, and would you recognize it if it passed by? These questions sound like juvenile brain-teasers. They are, however, pretty important if we are going to be mature thinkers. Here are some more: Since scientists in America are holding symposiums on the question of whether or not our reality is really real; and, since shining lights such as Neil Degrasse Tyson have suggested there’s a 50-50 c...
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Right off the bat, the existence of God is assumed in Scripture. It’s never explained, and no arguments are ever really made to seal the deal. God just is. The Lord said in another famous place, “I am that I am.” (Exodus 3:14) The Bible never argues the way we do when we try to convince skeptics. You’ve probably heard some of these arguments, like the Argument from Design, which says that the presence of observable...
1 Corinthians 7:23 says, “You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants [or, slaves] of men.” The first half refers to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, where the price He paid was His life, offered voluntarily on the rough-hewn wood of a Roman cross, to buy sinners out of their bondage to things like sin, death, and Hell. The concept of rescuing them by purchasing them goes back to provisions made in the Old Testament law, by which a family member could “buy back” what his relative had...
It’s a rare occurrence: A passage of Scripture was thrust into the national spotlight last week, as spokespersons for the Trump administration broke out Romans 13:1-7 as the moral authority for civil government to carry out the “law.” That word is in quotation marks, because the whole discussion has begged the question, “What law are we talking about?” What if the law in question is itself unjust? Does Romans 13 mean government should enforce injustice? This topic is near to my heart. I have me...
Matthew 20:25-28 says: But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark and Luke also document this teaching, in response to a particular sor...
Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17) If I had a nickel for every time a Christian has quoted this as a way of telling me that I am preaching wrongly against government, well, they’d want me to hand over all those nickels to the IRS. Christ’s statement was a trick answer to a trick question. If we don’t comprehend that much (which is clear from the text) we have no hope of applying it to our lives. We see that t...
Decades ago, I was involved with a movement called, The March for Jesus. The idea was that Christians across the nation would gather locally and march around important buildings in their towns, like schools. We all marched at the same time on the same day, and sang the very same songs in unison. That was the whole plan. We had some idea that it was being done in imitation of Joshua’s march around Jericho. (Except, Israel annihilated Jericho with its strategy, and we were only aiming for m...
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” — 2 Timothy 3:16-17 It’s pretty common for people to run across a passage like this and think, “Y’know, I ought to read the Bible more.” Then they try, and for whatever reason, they become discouraged quickly. They stop trying, feeling more lowly than ever. They might go to their pastor and co...
One of the most debated topics within Christian theology is “Eschatology,” or the study of last things, the end-times. These discussions get heated, but we generally agree that we can hold different opinions without having to accuse each other of heresy. I can acknowledge your right to be wrong, and we can still be brothers in Christ’s kingdom. However, Jesus did warn about some dangerous errors with regard to his Second Coming. These are not so much errors regarding how we think unful...
I encounter the following objection quite a bit. It normally comes in response to my having pointed out that the Law of God found in the Bible does indeed speak to current issues. It comes from people professing faith in Jesus. The objection is this: “But, pastor! That's in the Old Testament! We're not living under that Law. We're New Covenant believers.” Before I answer this, let me agree with the premise, at least in part. We (Christians) are in the New Covenant, not the Old. Jesus Christ is...
After past tragedies, I’ve written here about a biblical view of suffering; the basic human right to self-defense; and, the foolishness of treating government like a god. Here we are again, though, after the horror in Florida, with a child killing children at school. American society responds with a volley of partisan talking points. The best ideas are only of the band-aid sort, to plug holes in existing laws. If we can just tweek the wording of the civil codes, and get it perfect, no one w...
The way some folks teach Romans 13:1-7, you’d think God’s intention was to turn all of his people into slaves. They’d have to do whatever any government officials wanted them to, whenever they wanted it done. To go in depth in this crucial passage would require a book-length work, and not one short article in the newspaper. If the reader is interested in that larger effort, I have written one, and it’s available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon.com. Look for “Resistance to Tyrants:...
Here are two questions I wish Christian citizens would learn to ask their public servants and political candidates. Then, listen to the answers. A new believer who has been reading the Bible for a month could give the right answers. Politicians either cannot or will not, and what they do say will be highly instructive with regard to what they intend to do to you. The first is, “What is the purpose of government?” The Bible’s answer is that civil government is ordained by God to punish the bad gu...
You can’t legislate morality. Maybe you’ve heard that said, or said it yourself, when a conversation turned toward a prominent moral / political / societal issue. There is a sense in which the statement is perfectly true. There is another sense in which it represents a gross failure to grasp the point. In what sense is it true that you can’t legislate morality? It’s true that no law enacted by any government has the ability to sink down into the human heart and bring light to the darkness. Anti-...
Back in my Navy days, my chaplain used to say that Matthew 7:22-23 was the scariest passage in the whole Bible. I have tried, without success, to find a scarier one. Here it is in the King James translation. This is Jesus speaking: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” This pro...
This Christmas, I’d like to share the seven most astonishing words in the Bible. They are in Hebrews 2:13, and come from Jesus Christ. In a nutshell, they contain what is so astounding about this season. Here they are: “I will put my trust in him.” I’m guessing you didn’t fall out of your chair in amazement. But here’s why you probably should have. These words appear in a passage that is emphasizing the true humanity of Jesus Christ, the carpenter from Nazareth. This is the foundationa...
Reading the book of Acts, two things occur to me. First, this is the only book in the Bible where we see Christian preachers actually preaching the Gospel. Second, when you pay attention to that preaching, it bears only slight resemblance to the Gospel we hear today. Many things that are preached, whether in our own churches, or by guest evangelists, or on television, simply do not appear in the preaching of Peter and Paul. I’m convinced those apostles would wrinkle their noses and wonder why w...