Pastor Prince

"Don't get mad, get even!"  How many times have you heard that?  Oftentimes our anger rises when someone wrongs us, especially when it's intentional.  That anger compels us to strike back, to get even. This was on Simon Peter's mind when in Matthew 18:21ff he asked Jesus how many times he was to forgive his brother.  He thought he was doing well when he suggested seven times.  Religious teachers of the day said he was to forgive three times.  Peter doubled that and added one!  Surely that was enough! Jesus replied, "I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven!"  His forgiveness was to be limitless! Then Jesus told a parable about the kingdom to show why.  A king settling accounts with his servants learns that one owes him a huge amount of money.  When he tells the servant he's going to sell him and his family into slavery to pay his debt, his servant pleas for time to pay him back.  In a stunning moment of g...

Most Christ followers today don't talk much about the Last Judgment.  Maybe it's because it doesn't fit our culture of relativism and individuality.  Or maybe it's because of the excesses of previous generations of church folk.  Many of them had a joyless faith in which clouds of guilt and judgment hung over them and everyone else. But Jesus spoke often about the Last Judgment.  Some of his most unforgettable parables were about it.  One of them was the parable of the net in Matthew 13:47-50.   Jesus said fishermen went and cast a large net in the sea.  When it was full of fish, they took it to the shore.  There they emptied it and separated the fish.  They took the good ones and saved them in baskets, but threw the bad ones away.   Jesus said the kingdom of God was like that.  At the end of the age, angels will separate the righteous from the wicked.  They'll take the wicked and throw them into hell, or the fi...

Imagine you lived in Jesus' time, and you were able to see him and his disciples.  Imagine also you knew nothing about what would become of them.  All you know is that Jesus' father was apparently a carpenter and Jesus had no advanced religious training.  None of his disciples were impressive.  Four were fishermen.  One was a tax collector.  One was a political radical.   Though at the height of his popularity, Jesus drew thousands to hear his teaching, by the time of his crucifixion his followers were few.  Yet today, about 2 billion people spanning the world say they follow this Jesus!  No one in Jesus' time would have guessed that, except for Jesus himself! Jesus predicted it his parables of the mustard seed and yeast, recorded in Matthew 13:31-33.  He said that though the mustard seed was one of the tiniest seeds, a huge plant grows from it.  He also said that a small amount of yeast leavens a large amount of dough....

One of the most remarkable aspect of Jesus' teaching was his use of parables.  Apparently, he used parables far more than any other teacher of his time.  A parable is an extended metaphor or simile, used to help teach a truth.  Usually, Jesus' parables taught one simple truth, though there were exceptions.  His parables had a dual function.  They revealed secret truths to his followers, but concealed them from those who sought to do him harm (see Matt. 13:10-17). Many of his parables were about the kingdom of God.  The Bible teaches that at the end of the world, God will establish his kingdom on earth.  Jesus taught that one day the kingdom would come in full power and glory, but that it was starting to enter the world through him.  It would enter the world slowly, transforming it.   Matthew 13:44-46 tells about two parables: the hidden treasure and the precious pearl.  Though they're two different parables, they reveal the ...

At Christmas, we emphasize the sweet, warm parts of the story of Jesus' birth. Jesus placed in a manger among animals, angels appearing to shepherds, and shepherds worshiping the newborn king in Bethlehem all make for a nice "Precious Moments" portrait. But the full account of his birth has dark sides to it.  One of those is King Herod's attempt to murder the baby Jesus and his successful murder of baby boys in the area of Bethlehem.   Matthew 2 tells us that the Lord warned Joseph about what Herod intended to do.  Joseph gathered Mary and Jesus in the night, and fled for Egypt.  This made the holy family refugees.  Refugees are people who must leave their homes because of events like war, famine, persecution, and environmental disaster.  Joseph had to flee with his family because of Herod's murderous intentions.   Joseph went to Egypt because it was outside Herod's jurisdiction and because it had large Jewish communities.  It...

A disturbing trend in America in recent years has been rise of hate groups and crimes.  In 2015, Dylann Roof entered the Emanuel Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and murdered 9 church members at a Bible study.  He told them, " I have to do it. You rape our women and you're taking over our country. And you have to go." Last year, Robert Gregory Bowers used the online social network Gab to write anti-Semitic statements about the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).   Referring to caravans of Central Americans heading to our border and to immigrants, he posted “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."  He went to the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and murdered 11 Jews who were attending a Sabbath service.  According to police reports, Bowers allegedly told a SWAT officer that he wanted all Jews to die, and th...

The book of Ruth begins with a famine in Israel.  Elimelech, a native of Bethlehem, moves to Moab to find food.  He takes with him his wife Naomi, and sons Mahlon and Kilion.  Elimelech dies in Moab, but Naomi still has her sons.  They married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Naomi's life takes another tragic turn when her sons die. About that time, she hears the famine is over in Israel.  She decides to return home and pleads with her daughters-in-law to return to their homes.  But they want to go with her.  She pled with them again, and Orpah leaves.  But Ruth continues to cling to her, speaking the unforgettable words of devotion recorded in Ruth 1:16-17. (It's best in the King James Version!) You probably know what happens next.  Naomi returns home, a bitter and grieving woman.  But she instructs Ruth to go a field and glean grain for them.  As God works it out, it turns out to be the field of Boaz, a relative of Elim...