It seems that we live in a world of memes. According to Merriam-Webster, a meme, strictly speaking, is “any idea, behaviour, style, or usage that spreads from one person to another within a culture.” Most people have come to associate the word, however, with a captioned photo that is intended to be funny, often by ridiculing human behaviour. Every now and again, however, you … [Read more...]
Holy Hatred: One Who Sows Discord Among Brothers
In our ongoing consideration of the seven things that God hates, we have considered “haughty eyes,” “a lying tongue,” “hands that shed innocent blood,” “a heart that devises wicked plans,” “feet that make haste to run to evil” and “a false witness who breathes out lies.” The seventh thing that God hates is “one who sows discord among brothers.” In his commentary on Proverbs, … [Read more...]
Holy Hatred: Feet that Make Haste to Run to Evil
Four pastors were sitting down to lunch. Having just read James 5, in which James urges his readers to confess their sins to one another (v. 16), one suggested that they practice what they had read. They all agreed, and so the first pastor said, “I have been a little dishonest with the church books, labelling personal expenses as ministry expenses.” The second admitted, “In … [Read more...]
Holy Hatred: A Heart that Devises Wicked Plans
Have you ever watched a film or read a book—perhaps a horror, a crime thriller, or even an action title involving some elaborate criminal scheme—and thought, who comes up with this stuff? Have you ever read or heard of some act of real-life wickedness and wondered, what kind of a mind imagined that? None of this should surprise us, for the Bible tells us that the fallen … [Read more...]
Gospel Celebration (Psalm 32:1–11)
This year marks the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, which commenced with Martin Luther’s thunderous hammer on the doors of the Wittenberg church. Luther was simply calling for a civil debate with Catholic Church leaders concerning some doctrines that he believed they had gotten wrong. He aimed to help correct the errors and assumed that they would appreciate his … [Read more...]