Buts in song? Isaac Watts is credited with having written somewhere near 1000 hymns for the church to sing.  He was rather controversial in his day–he dared to depart from the strick singing of scripture that stemmed from the teachings of John Calvin.  Are you ready for this?  Watts is believed to be the first worship song composer… Continue reading

One passage teemed with buts is 1 Peter 2:4-10.  There you find five buts in seven verses, all focused on making one point: Jesus is the Living Stone. Jesus is: the living Stone–rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to Him. Having called upon the readers of his letter to grow in their faith, Peter now uses a… Continue reading

It’s all over the place in the Bible–condemnation of pride and arrogance and commendation of humility.  It usually reads like this: God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Whether it’s in James 4:6 (which is quoting Psalm 138:6), or among Jesus’ teachings like an example in Matthew 23:12, or in any number of proverbs like… Continue reading