Pastor's Blog (Page 12)

This week I found it both sobering and instructive… that Asher Velilla took his first breath… while Dave Johnson and Queen Elizabeth took their last. Today is Richard Peters’ eighty-seventh birthday. Way to go, Richard! Yet the Queen, Dave, and Richard all came into the world just like Asher: as a child. This Sunday we begin a new 9:30 Bible Study series: Notable…

Have you heard? In the span of 17 years, 114 people died in weight-lifting accidents at the gym. But in those same 17 years only one man died while eating a donut. The obvious lesson here is that we should avoid the dangerous gym and stay safe at the donut shop! Specious reasoning, indeed, though worthy of a chuckle. We know full well there’s much more to the story! But…

In Genesis 20 we read that Abraham and Sarah moved to Gerar, where Abraham said of her, “She is my sister.” (Yes, your memory is correct—Abraham has done this once before back in chapter 12, and things got really messy… but here we go again—same song, second verse.) So Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and had her brought to his palace. The wedding was…

You are probably familiar with the Hebrew word chesed, which is often translated “lovingkindness,” or “steadfast love.” Four times in Genesis we come across chesed in the same sentence with emmeth, which is usually translated as “faithfulness.” Separately, these two words occur many times in the Bible. Each is powerful and packed with meaning in its own right. But when…

“…and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.” (Genesis 20:6) In Genesis 20 Abraham and Sarah moved to the region of Gerar. Fearing the people would kill him to get his wife, Abraham said of Sarah, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech, thinking Sarah was “available,” took her as his wife. But the Lord came to Abimelech in a…

In Genesis 18 the Lord told Abraham that He was about to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because their sin was “exceedingly grave.” Knowing his nephew Lot was down there in Sodom, and not wanting to see him and his family destroyed, Abraham began to plead the cause of the righteous: “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there…