Pastor's Blog (Page 31)

Pastor's Blog (Page 31)

Cain and Abel

So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. -Genesis 4:3-5 At…

8.31.11

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” — Genesis 3:22 Consider the Lord’s compassion in preventing fallen man from living forever. What if every Al Capone, Jesse James, and Adolf Hitler were…

Toil and Sweat

Imagine: * summer gardening in South Carolina without shirt-drenching sweat. * cultivating, planting, and reaping a crop without exhaustion or a sense of toil. Of course, I’m thinking of those two words in Genesis 3:17-19:  toil and sweat.  Sin’s consequence is not work, but the toilsomeness of it—that immense degree of effort required to extract a crop.  And toil’s…

Taking the Blame

It was the woman You gave me who gave me the fruit…(Genesis 3:8) First he hid in the trees.  Now he hides behind someone else’s actions.  And Eve was quick to follow suit:  “It was the serpent.  He deceived me…” Thanks to lots of practice down through the centuries, we’ve turned hiding behind someone else’s actions into an art…

Pursued By God

    …and the man & his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God.*  I remember hiding from my dad once.  I was a young child and had been invited over to a friend’s house for the afternoon.  While I was there my friend and I did some things we clearly knew were forbidden.  What’s more, my friend’s parents discovered our disobedience! Later that afternoon,…

You Shall Not Surely Die!

It only took about 45 words for Satan to seduce the first couple.  A question, a statement, and a brief explanation.  You would think it would take much more than that to ruin human history. First, the question:  Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? Eve missed what Satan was insinuating with, Did God really say…? And she…