This Lord’s day, the planned sermons deal with crucifixion in the morning and resurrection in the evening. It seemed more than appropriate to look at the middle of that doctrinal sandwich. Between death and the second coming, some form of our being remains conscious and alive. Jesus points to the words of God to Moses… Read More »
Suicide, Sin, Hell, and God’s Grace
[Editor’s Note: At no point am I saying it is acceptable or pleasing to God to commit suicide. Your family does not deserve to live in the aftermath of taking your life. Reach out, please.-JS] Matthew Bassford posted a thoughtful article on suicide to his Facebook page last week1. I expressed my thoughts on an… Read More »
How I Die, Does It Matter?
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”-Ecclesiastes 7:2 Death is a funny thing. It makes you think about your life. Loss seems to be coming in waves… Read More »
The Last Waltz
I do not know Matthew Bassford. As you read this, he is preaching his final sermon for the Jackson Heights church in Columbia. It will almost certainly be the final sermon of his life. I do not know why Matthew and I are friends on Facebook. One of us made the poor decision to accept… Read More »
Life And Death; Conflict In This World
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,”-Romans 8:28 These words of the Holy Spirit through Paul can be equal parts comforting, perplexing, misapplied, and as Peter would say, “hard to understand,”-II Peter 3:16. To grasp the meaning, we must start with what the word of God is… Read More »
Two Of The Same Man
“It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.”-Proverbs 20:14 (KJV) Who did you know? It depends on when you met him. Like the shrewd haggler in the proverb, you may have seen one face before a conflict and witnessed a completely different set of… Read More »
Confusing And Confusinger
Allow me to offer a gentle reminder as we begin: “The word of God says what it says.” As we examine I Peter 3:18-20, we may vary on the meaning of the passage, but we are bound to agree on the words. What does this section of Scripture actually say? “For Christ…being put to death… Read More »
Fair Warning: I Make No Promise This Will Be Uplifting
In the same year I crossed the half-century mark of my sojourn on earth, it occurred to me I had lived more of my life without my mother than I had with her. I was 25-years-old and in my second year of college when Nancy Jane Sage took her last breath. She fought breast cancer… Read More »
Funeral For A Friend
Editor’s note: I am screaming as I write this. Forgive me if it goes astray.-JS She was twenty-years younger than me. She could have been my daughter. I preached her funeral Thursday. There are still tears in my eyes. What a beautiful child. Not perfect but a Christian. She was raised in the church and… Read More »