“For everything God created is good,” 1 Timothy 4:4 begins. Really? What about mosquitoes? Well, yes. As much as many of us have wished that Noah had squashed those two on the ark, even mosquitoes have their place in God’s… Continue Reading →
Nowhere in the text of Luke 16 is “The Rich and Lazarus” called a parable, but even if the characters are fictitious, Jesus doesn’t ever make fantasy out of doctrine. I. Luke 16:19-31. We cannot change anything after death. The… Continue Reading →
We all know the frantic, panicked feeling we have when searching for something that’s lost, such as our keys, wallet, or phone. Hopefully, we’ve never known the sheer terror of losing a kid in a store, or if so, hopefully… Continue Reading →
In all 176 verses in this psalm about God’s Word, one in particular gives us the cure for sin and selfishness: we need to be “living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9). Great! But, someone new to Christianity can be… Continue Reading →
The cross is the dividing line in history. If the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, then the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. So, how did we get the 27 books that fill the ‘canon’ or ‘rule… Continue Reading →
O those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer … I come from a long line of work-aholics … therefore, I’ve always struggled in this area. Work first, play later–but later there’s always more work to do! Because I’ve always filled… Continue Reading →
The man in the WWII hat shuffled towards the door of the bank I was exiting, and even though I was in a hurry, I waited and held the heavy door open for him. Surely my general courtesy could extend… Continue Reading →
Most lessons on salt from the Bible have to do with its unique ability to flavor, preserve, and create thirst–all qualities Christians should possess for the world around them. But what does salt have to do with the cost of… Continue Reading →
The Missionary [I wrote this towards the beginning of my now twenty year mission] Today I removed a stump. I loved a child who knew not love. I was her father for she had not one. She played with… Continue Reading →
O how it hits a parent’s heart to hear his child cry out, “I hate you!” yet that is exactly how it hits God when we turn away from Him by sinning. How do we know? A passage in Luke… Continue Reading →
What better time to talk about leaders than Father’s Day! The pioneer man facing a snarling wolf in the doorway of a log cabin while shielding his family within is an iconic picture of fatherhood … and just what Jesus… Continue Reading →
The starting bid on ebay for a “signed” copy of the Bible was $1,000,000.69. That’s ridiculous for anyone who knows anything about the Bible–even if Jesus purportedly used a blue Expo marker and dotted the ‘i’ in ‘Christ’ with a… Continue Reading →
The song, “He’s got the whole world in His hands …,” really puts God’s sovereignty and love for His creation into perspective. It’s when we believe ourselves abandoned or rejected by God (because of our sins or insignificance) that we… Continue Reading →
A parent leaves a kid at home with a note that reads “Clean your room!” The kid respects the parent’s authority and so obeys the command, but if he interprets the note how he wants by stuffing toys out-of-sight in… Continue Reading →
As a teacher, I am amazed at how Jesus was a master teacher. Without any training or degree from a university to know how to do so, He employed so many techniques to bring about the greatest retention of essential… Continue Reading →
My grandfather used to say, “You don’t wait until a tree is full grown until you prune it.” When kids are bad, we blame the world, coaches, teachers, “failing schools” … or even the kids themselves. But, rarely do we… Continue Reading →
There are certainly many sections of Scripture that most of us would admit we skip or at least skim. When the unpronounceable names and unfathomable numbers pile-up, we shrug, not knowing these people, and look for the next bit of… Continue Reading →
Benevolence springs from who we are in Christ. Edification is the building up of and teaching truth to everyone around us so that we can get to our third main value as Christians: evangelism. We can not, however, share the… Continue Reading →
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1. Faith, by very definition, means that we are trusting in God during a trial of uncertain outcome. Abraham could see… Continue Reading →
Just before bed, I sanded the second coat of joint compound on some bedrooms now that we’re empty-nesters. To keep dust from billowing throughout the house, I stapled a plastic sheet between the dining room and the hallway. It also… Continue Reading →
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