What comes to your mind when you think of Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus? Fifty years ago as a college preacher student, I had somehow picked up the idea that those writings were primarily about "church organization" and "church office" (some people use the terms "polity" and "order"). My memory might be messing with me, but it seems like every time one of "our" preachers cited Timothy or Titus, he was explaining how the church should be organized, or defining the "scriptural qualifications" for holding "office" in the church. For the benefit of those who didn't grow up in the same … [Read more...]

IF NATIONAL OR international crises are cause for alarm, it appears that we will remain in an alarmed state. If it is not Asia it's the Mideast. If it's not a hijack in the air it's a political kidnapping on the ground. Closer to home, taxes and inflation spiral and the cost-of-living threatens national economic disaster. The first impulse is to "get away" from it all. Like David, we want to take wings into a desert place (Psalm 55:5,6). Or, borrowing words from the poet Bryant, we would "take the wings of morning" and "lose ourselves in the continuous woods." Vacations are fine from time … [Read more...]