Author Archives: St. John Studies

When someone tells you that they hate you, tell them you hate them too.  When someone assaults you, assault them back.  When you experience dishonesty, tell a lie to match the lie that you hear or go even bigger…tell a … Continue reading →

Love is one of “those” words.  What I mean by calling love one of those words is that love is a connotative word.  Our language is full of connotative words, words which have some emotional association.  There will be some … Continue reading →

One of the most uncomfortable feelings I ever have is when I am teaching a Sunday school class and I introduce a new term to Christians and they wonder whether it is “legit” or not.*  The looks of consternation are … Continue reading →

Before launching into Chapter Eight of The Cross of Christ (entitled “The Revelation of God,” I think it is important to orient ourselves to where we are in the overall book.  John Stott says the “heart of the cross” is … Continue reading →

At times it is best to be honest or maybe a better way to express this is, we need to be frank.  In this context “frank” is best defined as “direct in speech or writing, especially when dealing with unpalatable … Continue reading →

On February 10, I began a series of discussions about the consequences of sin based on Chapter 6 of John Stott’s book Basic Christianity.  Since then, I have commented on how sin alienates us from God, sin enslaves us to … Continue reading →

When I was a baby, I reportedly had a visit from my great aunt Effie Thompson.  According to family legend, this wise, venerable lady leaned into my bassinet and declared “his ears are close to his head; he is going … Continue reading →

I am going to be honest.  There are some subjects that are terribly hard to discuss. The fact that human beings can become slaves to sin is one of them. Most of us don’t want to even consider we are … Continue reading →

“I know there are consequences for our sinful actions but is it possible to escape the consequences if we start living differently?”  from “B.L.” to Reverend Billy Graham “Sin is a terrible and destructive thing, and sometimes we have to … Continue reading →

Social comparison is a term that emerged from the study of social psychology in the 1950’s.  Social comparison is what we do when are trying to get some sort of evaluation of our station in life.  We compare ourselves to … Continue reading →