Donald Grey Barnhouse was pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia for 33 years until his death in 1960. He had a vivid metaphor for describing how the Ten Commandments work: “The law of God is like a mirror. Now the purpose of a mirror is...
This coming Sunday is Stewardship Sunday at my church. One of my idiosyncrasies is that I LOVE stewardship season and especially Stewardship Sunday. Really, I get nearly giddy. Perhaps it is partly because right out of college I was a Certified Public Accountant for a...
This week our journey through the Ten Commandments brings us to number seven: “Thou shall not commit adultery.” It needs to be said that “thou shall not” does not leave us any wiggle room. God does not put into stone ten signs that say, “I’m advising...
“Thou shall not murder.” Of all the commandments this one, number six, is probably the one that causes the least amount of controversy. It’s succinct, straightforward, and people almost universally agree with it. At least, we agree with it on the surface, but as we’ve...
You’ve heard the complaints and perhaps you’ve even complained about it yourself: the kids these days! What is the world coming to? One man, obviously fed up, put it like this: “Youth today love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, no respect for...
The fourth of the Ten Commandments is: “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” The commandment goes on to say, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” (Exodus 20:8-10a) What,...
It is one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines in one of his most famous plays. Juliet asks of Romeo, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet probably didn’t realize it, but in just those...
A friend recently gave me a new book which I finished reading last week. For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards is by bestselling author Jen Hatmaker. It is a book for and about women (sorry, guys) and our struggles...
What do you love? And, what do you trust? Those are the two questions I posed to Calvary last Sunday when the sermon led us to think about idolatry and in particular, our own personal idolatries. The first of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall have...
That’s the title I’ve borrowed from Rev. Dr. Craig Barnes for our 11-week series on the Ten Commandments. When someone uses a word like “commandment” or “law” or “obey”, is freedom the most immediate response that jumps to mind? Usually not. The general impression when...