Simply Gospel

May my steps be worship. May my thoughts be praise.

  • Reinterpreting Ruth

    While doing some studies in Ruth lately, I couldn’t help but wonder what her interaction with Boaz might look like if it happened in 2009 with some modern sensibilities. *** Upon returning to Bethlehem, Naomi and Ruth found a homeless community that welcomed them. It was a shanty town on the edge of the big city with a large agribusiness compound just to the southwest. Naomi remembered the word of the Lord and said unto Ruth, “Do not stand at the street corners begging for coins from passers-by. Rather, go to yonder farm and glean from the wheat what the… Continue reading

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  • The Incorruptible Seed

    Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth. For, “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth: But the word of the Lord abideth for ever.” And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you (1 Peter 1:23-25). God has always found the imagery of plant life fruitful for comparison with spiritual things. Many of Jesus’ parables feature agricultural images. Since most people are at least somewhat familiar with plants,… Continue reading

  • Connecting Judges to Ruth

    God connects the details in His word to one another. Sometimes we wonder why God includes certain chapters, passages, or details in His Bible. Such chapters may be 17-21 in which terrible wickedness is recorded with little divine comment. Serving almost as bookends to these events are chapter 17:6 and 21:25, which both say basically the same thing: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” More than a historical note, this passage reflects on the people’s rejection of God as king in their hearts. They seek to… Continue reading

  • The Mustard Seed – Part 2

    And the apostles said unto the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamore tree, ‘Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea;’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:5-6). The natural world provided Jesus with plenty of examples to help explain spiritual truths. He found great value in the illustration of the mustard seed and its growth pattern. Mustard seeds start out very small – about four millimeters in diameter – but they grow into a shrub-like plant, far larger… Continue reading

  • Is It Vain To Serve God?

    “Your words have been stout against me,” saith the LORD. Yet ye say, “What have we spoken against thee?” Ye have said, “It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?” (Malachi 3:13-14). People tend to prefer and value instant gratification. Sure, there are some things for which people are willing to wait for a little time, but on the whole, we want results, and we want them now. We do not want to wait in line, we do not want… Continue reading

  • Suffering Before Glory

    In I Peter 2, Peter describes what Jesus underwent on our behalf, and he holds up that sacrifice as an example to us. In verse 21-25, Christ’s suffering is the basis of our calling. Philippians 2 then gives a clearer picture of what Jesus would go through before His exultation. In his book, Peter relates suffering to glory. Our endurance and perseverance leads to God’ glory and our’s in Him. Paul, in Philippians, details that suffering, that endurance, that perseverance. In recognizing that God has highly exalted Jesus, we must first appreciate the extent to which he submitted Himself. Christ’s… Continue reading

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  • The Choice of Sin

    C.S. Lewis, a widely cited Christian writer, once said, “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick.” He observes that all sin moves us further and further from God. Sometimes we take a Calvinistic or fatalistic approach to sin, leading us to tolerate sin we feel we are fated to do. We see it as an unavoidable product of human nature. Rather than seeing sin as unavoidable, we… Continue reading

  • The Mustard Seed – Part 1

    And he said, “How shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or in what parable shall we set it forth? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof” (Mark 4:30-32). Many of Jesus’ teachings regarding His Kingdom were set forth in parables. This is understandable, for it… Continue reading

  • Where Is the God of Justice?

    Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, “Wherein have we wearied him?” In that ye say, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them;” or, “where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17). The evils and inequalities of life can pose a quandary for people who believe strongly that there is a God and that He loves and cares for His creation. When oppression takes place and injustice seems to rule the day, it is easy to start wondering where the God of justice went! Probably… Continue reading

  • The Murderer & the Author of Life

    “But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life; whom God raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses” (Acts 3:14-15). The irony of it all was not lost on Peter. Jesus of Nazareth did good for people– He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, and taught excellent standards of living (Matthew 9:35, Luke 6:27-36, Acts 10:38). Barabbas was a robber, an insurrectionist, and a murderer (Mark 15:7, John 18:40). He was in prison. Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God,… Continue reading