Posts by Steve Paulus (Page 2)
Why Observe Ash Wednesday?
(Based on a sermon delivered at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, Staunton, VA, Ash Wednesday, February 13, 2013) Why observe Ash Wednesday? Why observe the season of Lent? Notice I did not say celebrate Ash Wednesday or Lent. Celebration carries the idea of a feast and rejoicing. While there is always an element of joy in every Christian observance, the Lenten season…
Grace for Glitches
Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, ‘See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. Let us go the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.’ And he answered, ‘Go.’ Then one of them said, ‘Be pleased to go with your servants.’ And he answered, ‘I will go.’ So he went with them. And when they came to…
Drinking the Cup
(This entry is based on a chapel message delivered to students at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Croatia in the mid-1990’s. A few items have been edited or added. The reflections should have value for leaders anytime). But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came…
When Is It Right to Be Angry?
Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.” But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel” I Samuel 11: 1-2 Is it ever right to be angry? This seems…
Ministry is a Team Sport
And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” Luke…
Cutting the Baby in Two
Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” I Kings 3:26 On April 30, in the absence of a stay until an appeal can be heard, seven congregations in Virginia will be forced to…
Placed on a Pedestal
The famous 18th century economist, Adam Smith, uses the illustration of a common woolen coat, owned by many of his contemporaries in the cities of Great Britain. In considering the hands that went into making and marketing the coat, he mustered an impressive list of contributors. Such a list would include the sheep farmer, the sheep shearers, the spinners of wool, those…
The Problem With Miracles
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. Luke 5:4-7 Miracles present problems. They can always…
A Response to Tyranny
Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Esther 4:13-14 ESV Prior to the events that convulsed the entire world in the mid-20th century, a group of Lutheran and Reformed…
The Apostle Paul’s Facebook Page
I have a confession to make: I’m a Facebook ignoramus. I’ve been on the social networking site for a year or two and I’ve collected a number of friends but the medium still baffles me. The same holds true with LinkedIn. If I want to speak to someone or show them my pictures, I like to keep it personal, as in between you and me. So I just send a personal e-mail with an…