The book of Hebrews in our Bibles is a remarkable letter, written in the first century by an unknown author to Jewish Christians. As such, they faced persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. Knowing that the pressure was great to abandon Christ and return to their friends and family in Judaism, the author encourages […]
Telephone scams. A common one informs you that you’ve won a big prize. All you have to do to get it is to make a small payment on your credit card. After the person realizes they’ve been scammed, they admit, “I should never have fallen for it. I thought it sounded too good to be […]
Some people enjoy going to the gym. I never have. In high school and college, I only went to the weight room because it was required for wrestling. However, the Apostle Paul used athletic lingo when he said, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to […]
In September, I went to my 50th high school reunion. It was fun seeing old classmates. However, our smooth faces had become creased with a few wrinkles, the quantity and color of our hair had changed, and our bodies had different shapes to them. Reunions remind us of the brevity of life. We wonder where […]
Suddenly a bright light flashed across the bow, nearly blinding the captain. The other ship was on a collision course with his. Straightaway, he signaled to it, “Change your direction.” He quickly received a signal back, “You change your direction!” Put off, the captain sent another message, “This is Captain Palmer. I order you to […]
Early in His ministry, Jesus attended a wedding. Jewish weddings in those days were very different than most weddings in our country today. The wedding usually lasted five to seven days. The bride and groom were paraded through the village, so the wedding was often a joyous village-wide event. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus performed […]
I hate roller coasters. I almost get seasick just watching television coverage of some theme park’s new “biggest roller coaster ever.” If they think that is going to inspire me to vacation at their park, they have another thing coming. I see absolutely no excitement to being pulled straight up several stories, only to freefall […]
Man’s inhumanity to man is most clearly seen in racism. It has led to Hitler’s extermination camps in WWII, the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Stalin’s “Great Purge” in the 1930’s. It has also shown its ugly face in the enslavement, mistreatment and murder of Blacks in our own country’s history. This level of bigotry and […]
Christ had a very clear understanding of why He was born into our world. He expressed that purpose to Nicodemus [Nic, for short] in a late-night conversation recorded in the third chapter of John. Nic was a very religious man, having devoted his life to the study of the Scriptures. But as he heard of […]
In 2 Timothy 2:3-7 of our Bibles, Christ-followers are encouraged to develop qualities found in three groups of people. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he […]