How to Receive Gladness For Sorrow in a Worship Service (Nehemiah 8:9-12)
Americans have never been unhappier and the worship service in America has never been emptier. A survey conducted in May of 2020 found that just 14% of American adults considered themselves “very happy”. They have conducted this survey since 1972. In the past 50 years the percentage of people who rated themselves “very happy” had never dropped below 29%. We all experience seasons of unhappiness. Stress can creep into our lives slowly, or broadside us like a freight train. We…
3 Important Aspects of Preaching God’s Word to His People (Nehemiah 8:1-8)
In the 16th Century, Elizabethan England had such a reputation for revering the Bible, and the Preaching of God’s Word, that French author Victor Hugo said, “England has two books, the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare but the Bible made England.” Regarding the Pilgrims who arrived in North America in 1620, Daniel Webster writes, “The Bible came with them, and it is not to be doubted that to the free and universal reading of the Bible is to be…
Song Of Simeon
Christmas builds up a great amount of anticipation, and sometimes it ends in disappointment. We set our expectations on certain things only to find that what we got was not as nice as we envisioned. We all know what it is like to wait for something that fails to live up to our expectation. Or, we immediately desire something else that makes the previous object less satisfying. This happens a lot with goal setting. The reward for reaching a goal…
Angels, From The Realms Of Glory
I just finished an excellent book, 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, by Tony Rienke (2017). He opens his conclusion with the following, familiar routine. Today, tired after work, I opened Facebook on my phone, looking for a diversion. I flicked past a video of a cat that sounds like a crying child; then I saw a new study about gun control; then I saw an innovative new keyboard for tablets; then I read a story from the latest celebrity gossip;…
Once In Royal David’s City
The New Testament begins after 400 years of silence. It would have been a time when the church was asking: Where is God? It also begins during a historically significant time in Roman history. Rome had been entrenched in centuries of warfare and imperial expansion until Caesar Augustus ushered in 200 years of peace, known as the Pax Romana. The people were asking: Who needs God? In light of history, we are insignificant and powerless, yet we remain full of self-sufficient pride. God…
Redeeming Genealogies
Most commentaries recognize a transition point here in Nehemiah 7. One scholar even sees it as the climax of the book. I know, personally, I have been excited to preach the next chapter. From my perspective, we’re standing on the precipice of the pinnacle of Nehemiah. We have already seen a list of names in chapter three. Is there really much more that can be said that has not already been mentioned? This particular list—with minor exceptions—appears in Ezra 2. Why bore…
Scare Tactics
I love a good psychological thriller like The Sixth Sense and The Quiet Place. Something that makes my heart race and my palms sweat. For most of these movies the key factor is the slow build up of our anticipation. While many of us find these kind of movies entertaining, we would hate to face them in real life. That’s what the FX show Scare Tactics tried to do. It aired for five seasons between 2003 and 2013. The premise was essentially a smashup of…
Nehemiah’s Generosity
The Lord preserved me from a lot of heartache by keeping me single throughout high school. However, it wasn’t for a lack of interest. I remember somewhere near the end of my sophomore year, talking to a girl I was interested in getting to know better. She was sharing with me her excitement about going to Summer Camp because it always brought her closer to God. I asked her why she felt the need to wait several months for Summer…
Follow The Money
Follow the Money Brad Mills / General Nehemiah / Oppression / Nehemiah 5:1–13 In his Netflix special, Colin Kaepernick seriously compared the NFL combine to a slave auction. Dressed in all black, wearing a grave countenance, and staring through the camera into your soul, without a trace of cringe, he says: “What they don’t want you to understand is what’s being established is a power dynamic. Before they put you on the field, teams poke, prod and examine you searching…