This is part twelve in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn what God has to say in this book about wisdom and discernment. Yesterday I learned that God is the source of wisdom and justice and in order to please Him I need to exhibit…
As you may know, Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church and author of The Purpose Driven Life has begun to write a monthly column for Ladies Home Journal. This ought to be an exciting opportunity for a professed Christian, for this space is generally reserved for articles dealing with “spirituality” which equates to New…
This is the eleventh of thirty-one articles covering the book of Proverbs. Chapter eleven of Proverbs continues the theme of contrasting the righteous and the wicked. Though not every proverb uses these words, most of them adhere to this theme. “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.”…
This is day ten in our thirty-one day study of Proverbs, and today we reach the heart of the book. Chapters 10 through 22 of Proverbs contain mostly single-sentence proverbs and form almost half of the book. There are occasionally longer constructs, but generally verses are not interconnected. They may build on a common theme,…
Here’s the brief summary: Proverbs 29:18 is not about the kind of vision that relates to leadership in the business world or even the church. The word translated from Hebrew as “vision” is chazon, which denotes prophetic revelation from God, not vision-casting or decision-making. The word that is translated as “perish” means to cast off…
This is day nine in this thirty-one day journey through Proverbs. This chapter provides one final call for wisdom, contrasted with the call of folly, before the book turns to the Proverbs of Solomon which will extend nearly to the end of the book. Chapter ten begins to provide the short, contrasting statements for which…
When my son is well-rested he lives in a violent world. He dresses in armor and runs around smiting the bad guys. Because he is only five (he turned five on Saturday) and does not yet feel shame about having people watch him in his activities, so he plays loudly and energetically. I overhear the…
In past days I have been spending quite a bit of time reading about the nature of worship. Here are some quotes that speak of worship, and more specifically, music as worship: “Wherefore that much more ought we to take care not to abuse it, for fear of fouling and contaminating it, converting it to…
This is day eight in this thirty-one day study of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 8 is an incredible poem that personifies wisdom as a teacher. Where in previous chapters the teacher has usually been a father instructing his children, we now see wisdom as the supreme teacher. In the first eleven verses wisdom cries…
This is the seventh day of this thirty-one day journey through the book of Proverbs. Due to extenuating circumstances (primarily a long night filled with sick children and hospital visits) I have not had opportunity to do as much study and writing as I would have liked. Thus I will be relying somewhat on last…
Today is the sixth day in this thirty-one day study of Proverbs and our topic today is, as you might expect, chapter six. Because today is the Lord’s Day I will write only very briefly. This chapter contains a metaphor that is one of my favorite parts of Proverbs. “Go to the ant, O sluggard;…
This morning brings us to day five of this thirty-one day study of Proverbs, and that means that we are studying the fifth chapter. This chapter bears much resemblance to the second, for it is primarily concerned with submission to the law, and avoidance of sins of a sexual nature. As we have seen many…
It is time once more to reach into the Feedback Files, which is where I answer questions sent to me by readers. This question comes from a person who may just be wanting to have me do his homework for him. A quick check of my university transcript would prove this to be an exceptionally…
Today, in this thirty-one day journey through the book of Proverbs, we move to chapter four. This chapter is nicely divided into three sections, each of which takes the form of instruction from father to son. This is an often-used construct within Proverbs, and one we have already seen several times. Each of the sections…
As you may know if you are a regular reader of this site, I have been devoting a lot of thought and study to the church – her nature, purpose and future. As I searched for a topic to write about today, my thoughts turned to an article I wrote last year entitled “Minister of…
This is the third article in this thirty-one day series in which we will examine the book of Proverbs. Today our text is the third chapter and it opens with an exhortation which continues through the first twelve verses. As with many passages in this book, they are framed in the context of a father…
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The…
This is the second article in a 31-day study of Proverbs and our chapter today is Proverbs 2. This chapter is a gold mine of information regarding why we must seek wisdom, how we can do so, and what benefits it will bring. First, let’s look at how we can seek and find God’s wisdom.…
In March of 2004 I began a 31-day study in Proverbs I entitled “31 Days of Wisdom.” I thoroughly enjoyed this study and benefited from it tremendously. Having been challenged recently to do more writing of an expository nature, I have decided to begin this study anew, and will perhaps even make it a March…
The past couple of Sundays I have posted excerpts from Don Whitney’s book Simplify Your Spiritual Life and I will continue with this series today before concluding it next Sunday. Whitney has given me much to think about in the past weeks, and he continues to challenge me with today’s reflection on our 24/7 culture.…