There Is Much We Don’t Know

  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you (Jeremiah 1:5). We often hear that the Bible is not a scientific text. And that’s fair enough, as far as it goes. But sometimes I wonder. Consider the Lord’s words to Jeremiah, “before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” What...
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When “No” Protects a Great “Yes”

  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8).  Ever since Eve encountered the...
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The Lord’s Hand in Marriage

  You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married (Isaiah 62:4). The beauty of the Gospel is perhaps nowhere...
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Sex, the Church, and Government: Contradiction is Not Judgment

Luke 3:15-22 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison (Luke...
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The Fruit of the Womb

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate (Psalm...
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Faith on Earth

Luke 18:1-8 When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8) What does this mean? In this Gospel lesson we find a widow who has nothing with which to persuade her judge—and an unjust judge at that—to come to her aid. Nothing but perseverance. Why did she...
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The Blessing Is a Burden

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on...
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Abortion from the Pulpit

  Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. (Psalm 130:1-3) There...
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The Myth of “Us” and “Them”

  Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! (Isaiah 6:5) Abortion is perhaps the most polarizing “issue” in American life today. Given the stakes, it is...
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Prayer and Perseverance

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and...
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