Life's Inanities and Ironies

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 (KJV) Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We gather today around the infallible, God-breathed words of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica. These ten verses paint a picture of what a genuine, powerful, and complete Christian testimony looks like. Not a shallow “I prayed a prayer once” story, but a living, breathing witness that turns the world upside down. The Thessalonians were brand-new believers in a pagan, hostile city. They had turned from idols to the living God under fierce persecution. Yet Paul, Silas, and Timothy could not stop thanking God for them. Why? Because their testimony was *complete*. It had every essential element the Holy Ghost requires for a life that truly glorifies Christ and reaches the lost. Let us open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 1 and pull out these clear, biblical elements. 1. A Work of Faith, Labor of Love, and Patience of Hope (v. 3) Paul says, “Remembering wi...

 In the turbulent days of the Judges, when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes,” Israel once again turned from the Lord and fell under cruel oppression. For twenty years, Jabin king of Canaan and his ruthless commander Sisera—with 900 iron chariots—terrorized God’s people. In that dark hour, the Lord raised up Deborah, a prophetess and judge, to call His people back to faith and freedom. Her story in Judges 4:1-24 stands as a powerful testimony to what God can do through a woman who walks in unwavering conviction and courageous obedience. Deborah sat under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel, where the people of Israel came to her for judgment. She was not seeking power or prestige; she was simply faithful where God had placed her. When the Lord commanded her to summon Barak to lead 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun against Sisera at Mount Tabor, she delivered God’s word without hesitation: “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you…? I will draw out Sis...

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. As we approach Memorial Day weekend, I want to speak to you not about the holiday as it is often observed today—with backyard barbecues, retail sales, and the beginning of summer—but as it was kept in the United States some sixty years ago. In the mid-1960s, Memorial Day (still widely called Decoration Day by many) fell solemnly on May 30 every year. Families, churches, and entire communities paused. They visited cemeteries, decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, flags, and wreaths, attended memorial services, and offered prayers for permanent peace. Businesses in many towns closed. Parades honored the dead with dignity rather than mere spectacle. It was a day of remembrance, gratitude, and sober reflection on sacrifice. Why should conservative Christians today recover and observe this traditional spirit? Because Scripture calls us to remember, to honor sacrifice, and to give thanks to God for the freedoms secured by tho...

The miracle of the never-failing barrel of meal and cruse of oil in 1 Kings 17:8-16 that we looked at yesterday is not an isolated Old Testament wonder. It beautifully foreshadows and is directly echoed in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. For conservative Christians who hold the whole counsel of Scripture as inspired and harmonious, these parallels reveal the unchanging character of God as Provider — from the drought of Zarephath to the abundance of Christ. ** 1. Jesus Himself References the Widow (Luke 4:25-26) **   In His first recorded sermon in Nazareth, Jesus deliberately cites the widow of Zarephath: “Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months… but unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.”   By highlighting this Gentile widow’s faith and God’s sovereign choice to provide for her, Jesus underscores that God’s mirac...

In the days of King Ahab, when drought and famine gripped the land as judgment for Israel’s idolatry, the Lord sent His prophet Elijah to a most unlikely place: Zarephath of Sidon, territory of the enemy. There, at the gate of the city, he found a destitute widow gathering sticks to prepare what she believed would be her last meal. In her house was only “a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse” (1 Kings 17:12). She and her son were preparing to eat it and die. Yet the God who sees every empty barrel and every desperate heart had already commanded Elijah to go to her. The prophet asked first for a drink of water, then for “a morsel of bread.” The widow explained her hopeless situation. Elijah’s response was bold and full of promise: “Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cr...

As Bible-believing Christians who hold fast to the inerrant, infallible, and literal Word of God, we turn today to one of the most overlooked yet powerful books in Scripture—the Book of Obadiah. This shortest book in the Old Testament, with only 21 verses, packs a profound message about God’s sovereignty over the nations, His hatred of pride, and His unbreakable covenant with His people Israel. In an age when compromise and cultural pressure tempt even the faithful to soften the hard truths of Scripture, Obadiah stands as a clarion call to humility, repentance, and unwavering trust in the Lord’s promises. Authorship and Historical Setting The book is attributed to the prophet Obadiah, whose name means “servant of the Lord.” While little is known about the man himself, his message is crystal clear and divinely inspired. Conservative scholars date the prophecy sometime after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., though some place it earlier. What matters most to us as fundamentalists is tha...

In a world full of confusion about the Holy Spirit’s work, conservative Christians rightly turn to the sufficient, unchanging Word of God. The Bible does not leave us guessing about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are not mysterious feelings or self-improvement tools; they are sovereignly distributed abilities given by the third Person of the Trinity for one clear purpose: “the common good” of Christ’s church (1 Corinthians 12:7, ESV). Let’s examine what Scripture actually says, which gifts appear to be for every age of the church, and which were temporary signs tied to the apostolic foundation.   The Biblical Lists of Spiritual Gifts The New Testament gives us several complementary passages—never an exhaustive checklist, but clear categories of how the Spirit equips His people. 1. The Manifestation Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4–11)   These are the most frequently discussed. Paul writes:   “For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to an...

  The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2) is where the modern conversation about tongues begins—and where a faithful, Bible-believing Christian must stay anchored. From a fundamentalist, conservative perspective that holds Scripture as the final, sufficient authority (2 Timothy 3:16-17), speaking in tongues is not a vague spiritual feeling or a required “second blessing.” It is a specific, miraculous gift given by the Holy Spirit for a clear purpose in the early Church. Let us examine what the Bible actually teaches and what that means for believers today.   What the Bible Says About Tongues The Greek word *glōssa* (tongue) in the New Testament refers to a real, intelligible language—never unintelligible ecstatic utterance disconnected from meaning. - **Acts 2:4-11** — On the Day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples “began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Devout Jews from every nation heard them declaring “the wonderful works of God” ...

  Pentecost was never a vague “spiritual experience” or the start of some new era detached from Scripture. It was the dramatic, prophesied fulfillment of God’s promise, exactly as a first-century Jew would have understood it—and it remains the same empowering reality for us today. What Pentecost Meant for the People of That Time For the Jews gathered in Jerusalem, Pentecost (Greek for “fiftieth”) was the ancient Feast of Weeks—Shavuot. Fifty days after Passover, they celebrated the firstfruits of the wheat harvest and remembered the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. It was a time of thanksgiving, covenant renewal, and expectation. Then everything changed. In the upper room, 120 disciples were suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit. “Cloven tongues like as of fire” sat upon each of them (Acts 2:3). They spoke in real, intelligible languages—reversing the confusion of Babel—so that devout Jews from every nation under heaven heard the mighty works of God in their own tongue (Acts 2:5-11...

After Jesus had spoken to them about the kingdom of God and the coming power of the Holy Spirit , something extraordinary happened on the Mount of Olives . The risen Lord—fully alive, fully human, fully divine—was taken up before their very eyes. A cloud received Him out of their sight. In that moment, the King of kings was crowned. This was no mere disappearance. This was the coronation. The same Jesus who had walked dusty roads, touched lepers, calmed storms, and conquered death now ascended to the right hand of the Father. He entered the throne room of heaven not as a servant but as the victorious Sovereign. Every knee in heaven bowed. The angels sang. The Father placed the scepter in His hand. The One who had humbled Himself to the cross was now exalted above every name ( Acts 1:9 ). The disciples stood there, necks craned, eyes locked on the empty sky—exactly where many of us find ourselves today. That is when two men in white appeared with the gentle rebuke that still echoes thr...

  The conversation we’ve been having about biblical truth—*emet* and *aletheia*, Jesus as “the Truth,” and the sobering warning of Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates a lying tongue—does not exist in a vacuum. From the very beginning, the Church has been locked in battle over truth. False teachers, heresies, and cultural pressures have repeatedly tried to twist, dilute, or replace the clear teaching of Scripture. Conservative Christians today stand in a long line of faithful believers who refused to compromise on the absolute, objective truth revealed by God. These historical debates are not dusty relics; they are urgent warnings for our own day, especially when politicians (and sadly, some church leaders) treat truth as negotiable.  1. The Early Church: Truth vs. Gnostic Secret Knowledge (2nd Century) One of the first major assaults on truth came from Gnosticism, which claimed that salvation came through secret, hidden knowledge (*gnosis*) available only to the enlightened elite....

 In our last exploration we saw that Scripture defines truth as *emet* (faithfulness, certainty) in the Old Testament and *aletheia* (unconcealed reality) in the New—rooted entirely in the unchanging character of God. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Truth is not abstract; it is personal, absolute, and divine. But what happens when we set this biblical view alongside the major philosophies of truth developed by human minds? The contrast is stark—and instructive—especially for conservative Christians who hold the Bible as the inerrant, sufficient Word of God. 1. Correspondence Theory (Aristotle, Aquinas, Modern Realism) This is the most intuitive philosophical view: a statement is true if it corresponds to reality—“The cat is on the mat” is true only if the cat really is on the mat. **Biblical alignment:** Scripture strongly affirms correspondence. God’s Word corresponds perfectly to reality because God Himself cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18)...

The Bible does not treat truth as a philosophical abstraction or personal preference. Instead, it presents **truth** as an unchanging, objective reality that flows directly from the character of God Himself. Truth is not something we invent; it is something we discover, obey, and embody because God *is* truth. Scripture uses two primary words for truth—one in the Old Testament and one in the New—that together paint a rich, multi-layered portrait.   1. Old Testament: *Emet* – Truth as Faithfulness and Certainty In Hebrew, the most common word translated “truth” is **emet** (אֱמֶת). It comes from the root *aman*, the same root as “amen” and “faith.” *Emet* carries the idea of firmness, reliability, trustworthiness, and what is solidly established. - ** God Himself is the source and standard of truth. **     “The LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King” (Jeremiah 10:10, ESV).     His word and His promises never fail: “Thy word ...

I woke up this morning with a burden on my heart for the politicians in this country. Now I know that may seem at cross purposes, so to speak, but as I was reading Proverbs 6:16–19, I realized it could be directed directly at the politicians of our day in this country. And the fact that, not once but twice, God mentions how much He hates a liar—I didn’t misspeak; the actual word used is “hate.” I know for many of us it’s hard to think that God hates anyone, especially some of you folks who think, “Oh, God is always love and He wouldn’t do anything to anyone.” This thought and fallacy has sent more people to hell than any other. God makes it very clear what is needed to enter heaven. These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren....

We live in Giant Country. The giants are bigger than ever — government overreach, cultural decay, moral confusion, family breakdown, and open defiance of the living God. They strut across the valley and shout their taunts just like Goliath of Gath. Most of God’s people stand on the hill, dismayed and greatly afraid. But the infallible, inerrant Word of God shows us exactly how one young man survived Giant Country — and how we can too. Turn with me to 1 Samuel 17:32-40. The armies are arrayed. Goliath has defied Israel for forty days. Then David steps forward. David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (v. 32). Saul protested: David was just a youth; Goliath was a man of war from his youth. But David answered with the testimony of a man who had already walked with God in the hidden places: “Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after hi...

As we have walked through the opening chapters of 1 Samuel together — watching God choose David, build him in obscurity, and empower him to slay Goliath — we now turn to the heart of the man himself. David was “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). Nowhere is that heart more clearly revealed than in the inspired Psalms he wrote. Many of these are what Bible scholars call *Psalms of Trust* — raw, honest declarations of faith forged in the furnace of real-life danger, betrayal, pursuit, and warfare. These are not polite religious poems. They are battle hymns of the soul. David trusted the living God when Saul’s spear was flying, when the Philistines had him cornered, when his own son rebelled, and when the future looked impossible. In a day when conservative Christians face cultural giants, government pressure, media mockery, and personal trials, David’s Psalms of Trust are not optional reading — they are survival instructions from the Holy Spirit Himself. Let us exp...

We live in a day when bullies seem to grow larger by the hour. They mock the people of God. They defy the living God Himself. They strut across the cultural battlefield with weapons of intimidation, media, academia, and government power, demanding that we bow or be crushed. But the infallible, inerrant Word of God in 1 Samuel 17:1-54 gives us the clear, timeless answer: **the big bad bully always falls before a heart that trusts the living God.** The scene is set in the Valley of Elah. The Philistines have gathered their armies against Israel. Their champion is Goliath of Gath — nearly ten feet tall, clad in 125 pounds of bronze armor, with a spear like a weaver’s beam and a voice like thunder. For forty days this giant taunted the armies of Israel: “Choose you a man, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.” (v. 8-9) Not one man in...