011120 – Matthew 3. 13-17 “Don’t mess with my sacrament!” Jesus lived an ANONYMOUS LIFE pretty much in complete OBSCURITY for thirty years. (Of course, he would have been KNOWN to family and his friends and fellow villagers of NAZARETH during that time.) As you know, we KNOW NOTHING of what Jesus did from the […]
010120 – Matthew 2.13-23 The statistics that I am using are ten years old…but they were the latest complete figures that could be found. I am sure we are doing MUCH BETTER TODAY, NOT much better at all! We say that our children are OUR FUTURE, that they are so VERY, very important. And yet, […]
122819 – Matthew 2. 13-23 December 28th every year is the celebration of the “Slaughter of the Holy Innocents.” “Archeological historians” remind us that Bethlehem was a very small TOWN. We hear these almost “HAUNTING words…” “A voice is heard in RAMAH, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for HER CHILDREN and she […]
122119 – Matthew 1. 18-25 This is a “wonderful story” about the “SENSITIVITY” and the “KINDNESS” of A MAN. It almost comes off as a “STARTLING-SURPRISE.” And yet, it is ALL very STRIKING! GET READY to be ASTONISHED, AMAZED and to witness the UNEXPECTED! Some “men” CAN BE SENSITIVE and KIND! Some men…not ALL by […]
121819 – Matthew 11. 2-11 “Did you ever enter into “that intersection” called expectation and disappointment…?” It’s actually a pretty popular intersection. It sees lots of FOOT TRAFFIC. Many people end up there at various points in their life… We all have CERTAIN expectations…from time to time, sometimes they are realized, SOME TIME they are […]
121419 – Matthew 11. “Poor John the Baptizer” he was so VERY confused! (And of course, no one could really blame him…) John was receiving messages ABOUT Jesus albeit second and third hand stuff. But he WAS hearing about JESUS just the same… BECAUSE John was INCARCERATED it was hard for him to know if […]
120719 – Matthew 3. 1-12 I ran across this book about America and our failure to be AWAKE as a nation. And IN IT, I found an illustration that was used by a Southern Baptist preacher. He related an incident that occurred in the late 1800’s. His point was that we DO NOT pay attention, […]
120419 – Matthew 24. 36-44 I very much APPRECIATE a lot of the imagery that comes from the Hebrew Bible. It is usually quite RICH in DESCRIPTION and of an ANCIENT character. Take for example – the famous WATCHTOWERS…yep, that’s where the Jehovah’s Witnesses got the name for their infamous publications…from. They are called “THE” […]
120119 – Matthew 24. 36-44 These Matthean TEXTS are NOT necessarily what people read INTO them. These texts ARE NOT about trying to get a leg up” on the “Second Coming.” When Jesus said, “NO ONE KNOWS.” He meant just that! No one knows, so STOP all the speculation ALREADY! You are just spinning your […]
113019B – Matthew 24, 36-44 As Jesus prepared to meet “his final conflict” of his earthly life he spoke to his followers about “the things” that would come “in the last days” and he delivered a pretty clear message: “GOD is coming at a time you don’t expect, SO Get Ready.” In the course of […]