Paul is literally in a life or death situation as he writes Philippians. He thinks he might even die that day. That's why he famously says in Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." It could be either one: life or death. He doesn't know. Remember, Paul is writing while under house arrest in prison in Rome and he's under the horrific Caesar named Nero.

Recently, I preached a sermon entitled “the Christian Virtue of Loyalty.” That sermon was full of theology, for good reason. God’s individual people (believers) are to be loyal to God’s collective people (the church) because God loves the church and has knit the body of Christ together “as it hath pleased him” (1 Cor. 12:18).

The Urban Dictionary calls it the “green-eyed monster,” also known as envy, or jealousy. Jealousy has ruined relationships of every type. One young man is jealous of another because he runs faster or jumps higher. A young lady is jealous of another young lady because her hair is naturally fuller or because she’s taller. Even preachers are jealous of each other because one has a bigger congregation or more ministry success than the other.

Someone recently asked a question, and I think it is a good one. What does it mean for God to be named the God of Jacob? God gives Himself a variety of names, and all of them are intentional. His names offer insight into His character, so we may learn to trust Him. What, then, does He intend to communicate by saying that He is the God of Jacob?

Having been in ministry for more than 30 years, I have often counseled people dealing with serious bouts of anxiety. As a human being, I have personally dealt with anxiety. And there are more people who wrestle with it than those who come to a pastor for counsel. Academics who study such things estimate that, in the United States, anxiety now exceeds depression as the top mental illness, if that is the right word. At any given time, some six million Americans are afflicted by

There is an infinite gap between God and His creation. Isaiah 57:15 calls Him “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy.” God inhabits eternity; we humans inhabit time. His understanding is infinite, according to Psalms 147:5. Ours is limited. God has no counselor, and His counsels and plans are beyond the human capacity to know, anticipate, or even guess.