Philip McDuffie

  • Don’t Overstay!

    “Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house,  lest he have his fill of you and hate you.” Proverbs 25:17 Just the other day I was meditating on this proverb while I was sitting in my office. As one of our custodians came in to straighten up, I mentioned it to her to see…

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  • What A Nuisance!

    “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,  so is the sluggard to those who send him.” Proverbs 10:26 Throughout the book of Proverbs, the sluggard is actually portrayed in amusing and pitiful ways. The sluggard is depicted as a person who is perpetually lazy and inactive. He does not have any discipline,…

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  • It’s God’s Fault

    “When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin,  his heart rages against the Lord.” Proverbs 19:3 In the beginning, God made us upright (Genesis 1:26; Ecclesiastes 7:29). Ever since the fall of Adam, however, we have inherited a sin nature (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:19). With this sin nature, we live out folly. According to the…

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  • Hear Both Sides!

    “The one who states his case first seems right,  until the other comes and examines him.” (Proverbs 18:17) Within our sin nature, that old self that we inherited from Adam, there is a tendency to deceive others. This is especially true when we state our case to other people with the aim of getting them…

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  • Favoring the Reprover

    “Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.” Proverbs 28:23 To rebuke a man is to inform him that he is in sin – that he is guilty of falling short of the standard of Christian conduct as revealed in the Bible. In a sense, a rebuke is…

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  • The Outward Varnish of Religion

    “I had to offer sacrifices,  and today I have paid my vows.” Proverbs 7:14 Ravi Zacharias is a well-known Christian apologist, speaker, and evangelist. His books have been widely read, his YouTube videos have been widely watched, and his conferences have been widely attended. As one listens to him, he seems to exude Christian humility…

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  • Beastly Beauty

    “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout  is a beautiful woman without discretion.” Proverbs 11:22 Though our contemporary culture would be accused of toxic masculinity for saying something like this, the Spirit inspired biblical author believes this is a wise and profitable teaching. Whereas we would have said that a beautiful woman lacking discretion…

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