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How a husband should love his wife. Ephesians 5:28-33

To this day, I remember a story I read in a magazine that came out when I was a teenager.It was about a well-known pastor who was almost forced to step down from the pastorate (and probably should have) – after many years of public and prosperous ministry – because his wife divorced him.Now the interesting thing is that she didn’t divorce him because he was sexually unfaithful to her or any other kind of what we would normally consider flagrant, ministry-ending sins.The reason she gave was that he had chosen his ministry over her.Over the years she had been neglected and ignored and unloved.He had poured all his passion into the ministry and left his wife in the shadows.Now, I do not condone the divorce.But the fact of the matter is that this pastor certainly hadn’t loved his wife as Christ loved the church.He had sinned greatly against his wife.
The thing that haunts me the most to this day about this tragedy is the way the magazine advertised the story on the front cover.On the cover…
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The Meaning and Importance of Baptism (Romans 6:1-4)

What is baptism and why do we do it?There is, frankly, a lot of confusion related to baptism.For some baptism acts as a kind of totem.A neighbor once asked if I would baptize her in a creek.She was having problems at home and I guess she thought that being baptized in a creek would somehow provide some spiritual barrier to further problems.Other people don’t see any need for baptism, even though they profess to be Christians.Some have even taught that Christians shouldn’t be baptized anymore!Others go to the opposite end of the spectrum and teach baptismal regeneration, or at least that baptism is instrumental in our salvation somehow.What does the Bible teach?That is the question before us.Let’s look at six truths relating to baptism.
Baptism is an Act of Immersion in Water
As far as the external rite of baptism goes, it is by immersion in water.The words “baptize” and “baptism” mean to immerse.This seems to fit clearly with how the apostle describes baptism in our text: “Therefore we …
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Walking in Wisdom (Part 2) – Ephesians 5:19-21

Last time we saw that there are three things that the believer must do if he or she is to walk in wisdom (15).They must redeem the time (16), understand the will of the Lord (17), and be filled with the Spirit (18).However, the apostle goes on to talk about the effects of walking wisely, and there are three things that he lists in verses 19-21.These are singing to the Lord and to one another (19), giving thanks to the Lord (20), and submitting to another in the fear of God (21).
One preliminary observation I think it is important to make is that these things are done in the context of community.We are to sing to one another (the KJV “speaking to yourselves,” although a possible translation, is not quite on the mark; it ought to be translated, as it is in most versions, “speaking to each other”), and we are to submit to one another.Even the practice of giving thanks is described in such a way as to point to community: we are to give thanks “in the name of our Lord Jesus,” so that as we …
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