On 26 April 2005, 32-year-old Jennifer Wilbanks disappeared from her home in Duluth, Georgia, just four days before her wedding. The disappearance sparked a nationwide search and a great deal of speculation as to what had happened, including suspicions that her fiancé had murdered her. On 29 April, the eve of her wedding day, she called her fiancé from Albuquerque, New Mexico, … [Read more...]
Salvation Applied; Praise God for Predestination (Ephesians 1:11–14)
Many years ago, a well-known pastor and local church were sued by the family of a man who had committed suicide. The young man had sought counsel from the pastor concerning his very troubled life. In the course of the time they spent talking, the pastor pointed this man to the Lord Jesus Christ as his only hope. The pastor, along with other elders from the church, told this … [Read more...]
Salvation Accomplished; Praise God for Redemption! (Ephesians 1:7–10)
I remember an old commercial for the American Express credit card in which the narrator, after boasting its benefits, intoned, “Membership has its privileges.” Truly, this could be said for those whom God chose to save; those whom He chose before the foundation of the world to be members of the church of the living God. The church, God’s community of faith, is a unique … [Read more...]
Redeeming the Poor (Leviticus 25:35-55)
Leviticus 25 is a profound chapter. The Jubilee law indeed “is probably the most radical social and economic idea in all the Bible.”[1. Derek Tidball, The Message of Leviticus: Free to Be Holy (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2005), 299.] And it is so because it is the most radical spiritual idea in the entire Bible—because it is rooted in redemption. Those who have been … [Read more...]
Redemptive Living (Leviticus 25:1-55)
God’s people are called to be holy, to be different—theologically, morally, spiritually (religiously), economically, etc. In a word, we are called to be different ethically. And one way in which our ethics are manifested is in how we treat others. We are called to be different relationally. We see this in Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25 reveals the sabbatical laws with reference to … [Read more...]