Jeremy R. Geerdes Posts

Why do I sin? It’s a question which people have asked since the dawn of time as they aim to understand that natural bent toward stuff which is not quite right which exists in all of us from birth. And I suppose that, at some level, it’s an honest question: it just doesn’t make any […]

So, back in January, I wrote a post about why I use the New International Version (NIV) for teaching and preaching as opposed to the King James or other translations. It was a response to a question which had been asked by one of our newest attenders and others, which you can read here: http://jgeerdes.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/why-i-use-the-niv/. In […]

A thought occurred to me last night as I was working through Psalm 45 and, more specifically, the implications which it has for joy. Namely, in verse 7, we see this: “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows” (NASB). A […]

Psalm 43 strikes me today. The author is again in trouble, praying for God to vindicate and defend, and wondering why He has rejected him. It sounds like so many of my own prayers when I’m in trouble. At least at the start. But then something interesting happens just past the halfway point of the […]

So, I’ve been continuing my word study of joy in the Bible, looking for insights into what joy is supposed to look like and what fosters and fuels it for some time now. But today, I stumbled across something interesting in Psalm 35. When David’s enemies seemed to be on the prowl, the king declared, […]

Well, I’ve been continuing my study on joy. I’m not posting stuff that I see as redundant, but let me assure you that there are some very clear themes. Joy has been clearly connected to obedience, worship, sacrifice, and godly authority time and again through the historical books of the Old Testament. Some of the […]

I disdain politics. All of the promising, posturing, and pomp drive me nuts. And when I read a passage such as 1 Kings 1, I am reminded again of just how frustrating politics are. The story is classic. As David grew older, debate swirled over which of his sons would succeed him as king. There […]

When was the last time my heart boasted in the Lord? No, it’s not a trick question. The key to grasp is that I’m not boasting in myself or anything I did, etc. I’m boasting in the Lord and what He did. As I return after some distractions and rabbit trails to the subject of […]

“The ends justify the means.” I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this statement or some equivalent over the years. The government does it: we need to balance the budget, so we’ll hang teachers, the elderly, the middle class, etc., out to dry. Businesses do it: we need to cut costs to pad the […]

Whenever I think about joy, I generally think about the joy that I should have in my life. And though I am embarrassed to admit it, usually, those thoughts take the form of “If I only had this, then I would be really joyful.” Today, though, I stumbled across Deuteronomy 30:9 where, after outlining all […]