I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15, 16 Many interpret this in terms of passion, with God...

Judge not lest you be judged. How many Christians does it take to screw in a light bulb? Ten, one to change the light bulb and nine to judge whether he did it right. Many of you laughed, some of you winced because the simple fact is that Christians...

1 Corinthians 6:12. “’Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” Paul is arguing against a popular saying in Corinth at the time that many within the church seem to have taken as gospel truth (pun...

Love covers a multitude of sins. This saying is not as well known as other sayings that I have covered in previous blogs, but it seems to come up regularly in sermons with no context and without much explanation. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I hope to give you...

Money is the root of all evil.  This saying is obviously derived from I Timothy 6:10 (“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”), but there are several flaws in it. The most obvious flaw is the missing phrase at the beginning; it is...

Spare the rod, spoil the child.  As with most popular proverbs, there are elements of truth contained within this saying, which is probably why it is often mistaken for Scripture. Some verses in the Bible have similar wording as well, further complicating the confusion. This blog will discuss two...

  Jon, A friend of mine is struggling with the question “Doesn’t God just want me to be happy?” – how would you respond to that?  Great question! This might surprise some people, but God is not solely concerned with whether we are happy or not at the present...

God moves in mysterious ways.  Where did this saying come from? Many believe this was popularized by a poem written in the eighteenth century by William Cowper entitled “God Moves in Mysterious Ways.” Whether this popularized the phrase or drew from an already popular phrase no one can be...

James 5:16b “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” This passage might be the most misquoted English Scripture of all time (“money is the root of all evil” comes in a close second). The reason for the confusion is that it is a direct quote from...

Exodus 18:18 “You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.” This passage precedes the advice Jethro gives Moses about delegation. Perhaps many pastors do not take this seriously enough, but...