Matthew 26:30 KJV – And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.

After Jesus and his Disciples celebrated the final Passover before his Crucifixion, both Matthew and Mark say they sang a hymn as they headed to the Mount of Olives. While none of the Gospels tell us what that hymn was, history tells us it was likely what the Hebrews called the Hallel.

The second verse of the book of Hosea begins as follows.

“The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.”

As Robin in the 1960s Batman TV series would say, “Holy Smokes, Batman.”

“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

This statement by Jesus is an excerpt found in three of the four Gospels and is commonly known in Christian circles as the story of the Rich Young Ruler. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record a wealthy Young man’s discussion with Jesus regarding gaining entrance into heaven.

There are many points worth considering and discussing in the story of the Rich Young Ruler. We could consider why Mark and Luke chose to frame the Rich Young Ruler's question in terms of inheritance. Which begs the idea, can Heaven be inherited? Perhaps more notably, why did Matthews account record the Rich Young Ruler asking a different question? There are more questions one should ask regarding this short encounter recorded in these Gospels, such as whether a person can work their way into Heaven.

A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to Nineveh

The book of Jonah is the sixth shortest book found in the Old Testament, which makes it a quick read. The literary style of Jonah’s story is a satire. Literary satire aims to make fun of a person, idea, or institution. An author’s motive for using satire is typically deeper than mere entertainment. The book of Jonah is different from all the other Old Testament prophetic books bearing a prophet’s name, because it is not by Jonah but about Jonah. The Jonah narrative uses irony to expose some deep character flaws in this reluctant prophet.

The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved

John 13:23 KJV
Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

In our reference verse above the Apostle John makes it clear that he knew that Jesus loved him beyond a shadow of a doubt. Yet no where in his entire Gospel narrative does John use his given name or refer to himself as I. How is it in a first person account known as “The Gospel According to John”, that the author never mentions his personal name in the discourse of the account?

BE WHAT YOU ARE

Be what you are.
Cause if you ain’t what you are.
You are what you ain’t.

Jimmy Wolfenbarger taught me that little poem. Mr. Wolfenbarger passed away this past weekend. Jimmy loved his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. Loving the Lord with all your, heart, soul, mind and strength is the first commandment, see Mark 12:29-31. I know that Mr. Wolfenbarger loved the Lord for two reasons.

“The magnitude of my mission and the ticking clock of time.” That was a statement that I read recently and it literally rocked my world. I was painfully reminded that my time on this planet is limited and there is still much to be accomplished. Goals for my family, objectives for our church, and then my own personal ambitions. Husband, dad, pastor, leader, coach, family member and friend are a few, but not all of the titles that I have. Wearing multiple hats is not always easy and often presses me to the point that I feel as if I am not wearing any of them as well as I would like to.

What in the world is going on? Sorrow upon sorrow, it seems like everyplace we look in the world something terrible is going on. Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters are happening worldwide. Terror in many forms is seemingly on every corner of the world. In the last two weeks, individual Terrorist attacks with vehicles have occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana and Magdeburg, Germany. School shootings are happening worldwide at unprecedented rates, especially here in the United States. Various wars of different scales are going on across the globe. According to the Global Peace Index there are currently 56 countries engaged in military conflicts. Those 56 countries in conflict does not include other countries aiding these combatants with financial or other types of military support. Such as, the United States supporting Ukraine.

How Easy Is It To Quit Sinning

In order to succeed at being a Christian, it is necessary to quit some things that we used to do. Specifically, in order to be a Christian it is necessary to quit sinful habits! Let me point blank tell any young Christian, it ain’t always easy to quit old sinful habits. The Bible often calls quitting “repentance”. Being a Christian starts with repentance. When Jesus told Nicodemus “You must be born again” it wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command. Being born again is Jesus’s metaphorical way of saying, start over, quit your old ways and relearn everything about how to live life. In John 15, Jesus told his disciples “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

This past Sunday my Pastor used John 6:60 for his sermon text. That particular passage reads as follows: “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”

His thought was basically “Jesus had a lot of followers while everything seemed to be going well. However, once Jesus began to talk about spiritual matters, and the hardships that would soon come upon himself and his followers, many of them left and walked no more with Jesus. (John 6:66)