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“He who hates, disguises it with his lips, and lays up deceit within himself; when he speaks kindly, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.” (Proverb 26:24-26) It is a sad fact that satan, the enemy of God and of human souls, is often successful at causing people to do things to one another that ends up with one person hating another. Sometimes the person has actually experienced an attack or a slight from another. Sometimes the person merely imagines it. Sometimes the person envies something the other has and that’s enough to cause him to hate the other. Satan doesn’t car

“Do not eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies; for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. ‘Eat and drink!’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you. The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, and waste your pleasant words.” (Proverb 23:6-8) Before we even begin to break down this Proverb let me point out that some who read what I have to write will cry out stridently, “This is judgment and judgement is bad!” Ignore them. These are fools (since they don’t really know God) and they do not know, in the spiritual sense, what they are talking about. “Do not eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies…” (Proverb 23:6) The writer warns us to not eat the bread of a miser.

I was discussing a popular book with someone recently. The book is an allegory, which means that it is “an expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence; a symbolic representation” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). The book addressed spiritual ideas and issues symbolically. Because of this it did not attempt to present Biblical ideas in a strictly Biblical way. My friend cautioned me and others to be wary of the book saying, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump”, a quote from the Bible. While I appreciate that person’s caution and have heard many others take the stance that we should completely reject something because it’s no

I was reading the paper the other day and happened across this cartoon. Beetle Bailey rarely posts anything controversial or anything in support or against any political stances or religious concerns, so this caught my eye. It immediately reminded me of a true story about a congregation in a large city quite a few years ago. The ministers of this congregation would meet once a week to pray. They were all relatively young men and had formal ministry education. They truly were passionate about doing a good job for Jesus and tried their best to be doctrinally sound and take care of the people who attended their services. During one meeting, the lead pastor looked up and asked the other minister

Proverb 9 is an interesting one. It is, as is our world, one of great contrasts. This Proverb contrasts Wisdom (symbolizing God and His ways) and a foolish person (symbolizing satan and his destructive ways). The first two verses show Wisdom (God) making preparations. God ALWAYS has things set in place before He reaches out. Wisdom sends out her maidens (perhaps this refers to God’s people) and extends the invitation of the Lord: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.” (Proverb 9:5-6) What is the invitation? It is to come and eat GOOD, nutritious bread and to drink wine SPECIALLY prepared. Wisdom implores t