“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works” (v. 16). That’s what Paul told Timothy, and the Church has no shortage of similar hypocrites today. In fact, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll confess how easy it is for all of us to fall short in…

What do you look for in a pastor? I suppose we’d all agree that we want someone who will teach us the truth. But since we expect our pastors to know more about the Bible than we do, and since so many pastors teach so many different things, that leads…

Paul’s 2000-year-old description of wickedness in the last days seems eerily contemporary, doesn’t it? Can we doubt that all too many modern people are lovers of money or pleasure, rather than lovers of God? And as a result, should we be surprised at the pride and arrogance, the slander and…

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing – and this isn’t just the case for folks who rely on Google searches for medical advice. No, young seminary students are all too fond of debating all kinds of theological minutiae, most of which have little to no interest to the…

“Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.” Paul’s admonition to Timothy in verse 8 may not make much sense to modern Mississippians, living as we do in the buckle of the Bible belt. But however socially acceptable it might be for us to belong to a church,…

So, what’s the worst problem in the world? Racism? Islamic Jihad? Global warming? Government power intruding into our lives? According to Paul, there’s a problem even more profound and fundamental than any of these: the love of money (v. 10). Now, capitalists would strongly object, claiming that the desire for…

So, how is the Church called to care for the poor? In today’s world this is not an academic question, and it wasn’t for Paul and Timothy either. In their time, women didn’t have many vocational options, so when their husbands died, their incomes often died as well. Widows and…

“Some will depart from the faith.” That was already true in Paul’s time. Some Christians were beginning to believe that, because spiritual things are so important, the material world was somehow evil in itself. That’s why some false teachers were urging Christians to abstain from sex and from certain kinds…

For those of us who serve as elders or deacons, today’s passage can be quite daunting, perhaps even causing some of us to wonder whether we will ever be worthy of our office. But Paul’s lists of qualifications can also seem a bit arbitrary – why doesn’t he say that…

Let’s be honest – the last five verses of this chapter are quite challenging to us Americans, accustomed as we are to women taking an equal role in all facets of our society. There has been a lot of ink spilled over these verses, and they form the central reason…