Kevin Kinard had been making his annual visit to Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park for over twenty years, when he discovered a 9.07 carat diamond. This past Labor Day, Kevin picked up a crystal, thinking it might be glass. To his amazement, it turned out to be the site’s second-largest diamond found in its […]
The real problem in our world is not hunger, poverty, crime, racism, abortion, injustice, war, or exploitation. These all are the RESULTS of our real problem. The single seed from which all these problems germinate and grow is our rebellion against God. God created mankind and put him in an idyllic environment with only one […]
We expect our friends to be loyal. How would you feel if your closest friend cowardly denied knowing you? Friends who forsake you create some of the deepest scars. For 3 ½ years Peter had been groomed by the Lord to be the leader of the disciples after His death, resurrection, and return to Heaven. […]
You’ve heard of kids turning 180 degrees away from the values of their parents? Well, this is one of those situations. Hezekiah was a good leader of his country. He began his reign at 25 and was king of Judah for 29 years. But after he died, his son, Manasseh, became king. Manasseh was only […]
A very interesting passage of Scripture comes to mind in light of these days. 2 Chronicles 7:13–14 says, “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command LOCUSTS to devour the land or send a PLAGUE among My people, if My people, who are called by My name, will humble […]
I was born a Furtado because my dad was a Furtado, and his dad was a Furtado, as was his dad, etc. I was born a sinner because my dad was a sinner, and his dad was a sinner, as was his dad, all the way back to Adam. I might be a well-respected and […]
One of King David’s songs to God that has been handed down to us in our Bibles is Psalm 139. Eugene Peterson has paraphrased some of it this way, “God, I’m an open book to You; even from a distance, You know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; […]
When I was in high school (a long time ago), our sports rival was a town twenty miles to the north, just over the border between California and Oregon. The Bible also speaks of rivals, but not of towns and sports teams. These two rivals are each vying for your heart, kind of like politicians […]
Can a person who doesn’t know Christ capture God’s interest? Does God consider anything they do to be good, or are all their actions sinful in His sight? An interesting event takes place in Acts 10 that answers those questions. Before a supernatural encounter with God, the Apostle Peter considered non-Jews (Gentiles) to be so […]
One of the most common complaints is, “I don’t like my job.” The person complaining may not like their boss or their hours. Their complaint may be about the pay or the office politics. Such complaining is not new. The Bible is filled with such incidents. I’ll point out two that took place shortly after […]