Focal Passage: Jonah 4:1-11    

A passenger in a taxi cab leaned over to ask the driver a question, gently tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove over the curb, and stopped just inches from a building.

For a few moments everything was silent in the cab. Then, the startled driver asked, “Are you OK? I’m sorry, but you scared the daylights out of   me.” The shaken passenger apologized to the driver and said, “I didn’t realize that a mere tap on the shoulder would startle you.” The driver replied, “No, I’m the one who is sorry, today is my very first day driving a cab. I’ve been driving a hearse for 25 years …”

The cab driver had plenty of experience driving, but he was clearly out of his comfort zone. In chapter four, we find Jonah not only out of his comfort zone, but “displeased” and “angry” that God would take him to Nineveh to preach a message of repentance. In verse 2, he says to God, “… for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Jonah 1:15-2:10 

Every believer in Christ has a testimony. And all of them are great! No matter the background or condition of a person before they met Christ, one thing every believer has in common — we were dead in our sin! 

Not half-dead, or a little dead, but dead-dead. Spiritually dead! But God made us alive! 

I don’t have a testimony of salvation that would make most people’s hair stand up, shed tears, or juicy enough to make a TBN documentary. But God rescued me from death and has declared me righteous because of Jesus! 

However, I do have quite a story of my “call” to pastoral ministry. To make that long story short, I ran from God’s call on my life to pursue pastoral ministry. I grew up as a pastor’s kid. My grandfather was a pastor. Two of my great-grandfathers were pastors. That’s a lot of pastors in the family and I didn’t want to be just another one. But God outran me.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Amos 9:5-15    

The Bible’s “Famous Amos” did not make cookies; far from it! He identified himself simply as one who was “among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa.” He seemed to be saying, “I’m just one of the farmhands from the backside of nowhere.” 

But some of the most well-known words of the Bible came from him, words like: “Let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). He was a prophet of true reform, a spokesman for biblical justice, a man who knew what was required for national renewal. 

Today’s focal passage, Amos 9:5-15, gives a message of hope that such national renewal is possible, and —“under God”— is on the way!

One writer has described the passage this way: “Man’s End as God’s New Beginning.” We can see that farmer Amos was indeed famous Amos when it came to understanding the deep truths of how this troubled world will actually and finally conclude.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Amos 5:4-15    

In the past two lessons we were introduced to the Old Testament prophet that one writer calls “Amos, the country cousin — a backwoods ‘cowboy’ from the barren hill country some six miles southeast of Bethlehem, overlooking the Dead Sea.” His early messages were strong rebukes of the sinful nations around Israel, to which God’s people could say “Amen!” 

But then Amos began to meddle; he said that God also planned to punish Israel itself for its many sins against Him. He called the women “pampered cows” and accused the men of coming to church “to transgress.” 

Amos declared to Israel, “Prepare to meet your God!” In today’s text Amos continues such strong preaching with a lamentation — a funeral song — about God’s coming judgment on the house of Israel. Just before our focal passage, Amos had cried out, “The city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left…” (Amos 5:3). Sounds like many of our congregations after COVID, doesn’t it?!  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Amos 4:1-13    

In the 1929 Rose Bowl, the California Golden Bears squared off against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and provided one of the most famous plays in college football history. In the second quarter, California player Roy Riegels recovered a fumble, but instead of advancing it, he got confused and began running backwards toward the opposite end zone. California barely lost and this mistake would prove the winning margin in the game.

Our direction determines our consequences. Many times believers make the mistake of thinking they can run in the wrong direction for a bit without adverse consequences. They justify that since they are not yet too close, they are fine. But in truth, the direction in which we are pointed tells the story of where we will end up.

Amos is a collection of sermons and poems and visions that express God’s judgment to the people. Like many of the prophetic books, warnings jump off the pages at a fast pace! Much injustice and neglect of the poor had been spreading and Amos sensed God’s call on his life to send the warning! [Read more…]

Focal Passage: James 2:1-13 

There’s a great deal of attention being given to equality these days. How the world speaks of equity is neither correct nor accurate. Worldly equity only leads to further division because it divides people by outward appearances and false identities rather than by the content of their character. 

God is an impartial God in that He does not favor one ethnicity over another due to skin color, personal identity, or social status. God judges us and relates to us in and through the person of Jesus Christ. We are to mimic God in being impartial in our relationships.    [Read more…]

Focal Passage: Amos 2:4-16    

I’m the grocery shopper in our family and an aisle that I frequent is the coffee aisle. I wouldn’t designate myself as a coffee snob, but I do enjoy rich coffee. One brand that always stands out is Kona coffee. It catches my eye because I know it’s origin story. 

The beans are farmed, milled, roasted and brewed all within a 10-mile radius from their farm in Hawaii. But the soil is different from regular soil. The soil is rich in nutrients due to a volcano eruption long ago. 

The magma from the volcano formed a lively, dark, and acidic soil that is significantly different than my backyard in East Tennessee. This deadly, incredible volcanic eruption actually created a fertile soil conducive to great farming.  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: II Kings 22:8-20 

I hear business and leadership gurus often say CEOs are really CPSs. Cheif Problem Solvers. People are confident when their leaders are optimistic. For every problem, there can be a good outcome. We can either (1) solve the problem, or (2) learn a lesson. 

As we come to the conclusion of I-II Kings, it ends with a glimmer of hope and a lesson for us. Chapter 22 reveals during Josiah’s reign, a lot of work was making progress. In the midst of the work and the renovation of the temple, the Book of Law is found! 

It’s logical to ask, “why had it disappeared?” Most likely, it was removed during Manasseh’s reign from its place beside the ark. Think of it! God’s Word lost in God’s holy temple! And no one seemed to care!  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: John 1:40-49 

The greatest thing we can do for another person is to share Christ with them. If you’re reading this, it is my hope that you already understand that people without Jesus are counted as enemies of God, are dead in their sins, and are under the condemnation and wrath of God. 

No matter how kind, benevolent or religious, they will surely die and go to hell without hope. 

My question is, if we really believe what we say we really believe about this, why are we not doing more about it? If we really believe that people need Jesus, how much must we hate them not to tell them about Jesus and beg them to be saved?  [Read more…]

Focal Passage: II Kings 19:10-19, 32-34 

A friend of mine began a new diet and asked for accountability when we went out for meals. 

After a couple of weeks, I ran into him with a dozen donuts. I grinned and asked if donuts were part of his diet. He said, “Well, I came around the corner of the donut shop and I told God, if He wanted me to buy donuts to have a parking spot in the front. On the eighth time around, there it was!” 

I’m encouraged that we can converse with God about the daily stuff of life. But it’s also encouraged in Scripture that we approach God in a state of humility and helplessness.  [Read more…]