Life's Inanities and Ironies

 Most Christians want to be a blessing, but too many of us end up being a burr under everybody’s saddle. We rub people the wrong way with criticism, gossip, stinginess, and pride. The early church had the opposite problem: they had a man who rubbed everyone the right way, and his nickname literally meant “Son of Encouragement.” His real name was Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus. The apostles called him Barnabas, and in Acts 4:36–37 we’re told why he earned that nickname: “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” That’s it. No fanfare. No GoFundMe campaign. No dedication ceremony. He simply saw a need, sold property, and quietly laid every dollar at the feet of the leadership so the gospel could stay free and the saints could be fed. Here are four timeless ways Barnabas still teaches us to rub people the right way in 2025: 1. Speak encouragement, no...

  I was raised in a little country church where the only trumpet we 99% of us ever heard was the pastor's kid on his slightly-off-key cornet every Easter. Rams’ horns? Those were Old Testament curiosities, something for Messianic congregations or the occasional prophecy conference. Then I actually started tracing the shofar through Scripture. What I found shook me so hard I went out and bought a 36-inch Yemenite kudu horn the next week. My wife thought I’d lost my mind. My neighbors definitely did when I started practicing at 5 a.m. But once you see what the Bible actually says about this blood-stained, battle-scarred trumpet, you can’t unsee it. Here is the scarlet thread of the shofar from Genesis to Revelation — told the way I now preach it to my own fundamentalist, dispensational, KJV-carrying, pre-trib, blood-bought congregation. 1. The First Shofar: A Ram Caught in the Thicket (Genesis 22) The knife glints above Isaac. Abraham’s hand does not waver — until the Angel stops him...

Every year during Holy Week , we walk slowly through the Passion narrative, and every year Luke 22 hits like a freight train. In just twenty-five verses we watch Satan enter one of the Twelve , we watch Jesus institute the Lord’s Supper , and we watch the disciples argue about who is the greatest—all at the same table, on the same night, just hours before the cross. That collision of darkness and light, of betrayal and redemption, of pride and servanthood is not just ancient history. It is a mirror held up to every Bible-believing church in 2025.  1. Satan Never Stopped Wearing a Church Name Tag    “Then Satan entered Judas , surnamed Iscariot , who was numbered among the twelve” (v. 3).   Judas had been baptized, chosen, sent out to preach and heal, and entrusted with the money bag. Yet the devil found a landing strip in his heart because he loved money more than the Master. Brethren, false professors have not gone extinct. They still carry Bibles, sing th...

 I’ve about reached the end of my rope. I could handle getting old, and I could handle being sick, but both at once is more than this old frame can bear. We got slammed with snow here in Indiana the last few days. My job at the fairgrounds still includes keeping the lots and sidewalks clear, so yesterday I was out there most of the day battling it, just trying to keep things open for an event. I can’t remember ever being so glad to hear the words “We’re shutting it down.” They canceled the rest of yesterday and today too. Indiana doesn’t throw many tantrums anymore, but when winter decides to roar, it roars loud. This morning the wind finally laid down and the snow quit falling, so I went back out. You couldn’t tell I’d done a lick of work except my snow piles kept getting taller. I thought I’d just fire up the snow blower and finish the sidewalks. Guess what’s still sitting at the repair shop  where its been since August ? Exactly. So I grabbed a shovel. Ten minutes later...