Cliche It Up!
I can remember growing up listening to older people lead prayers, lead singing, or deliver invitations that had the most eloquent words I had ever heard. Phrases flowed with such grace that Shakespeare would be envious, and afterwards everyone would say, “Amen” or nod in approval. When I reached the age where it became my […]
Clean Out the Attic
Sometimes, our attics need cleaning. If someone has lived in their home for 20 or 30 years, a lot of stuff can accumulate. In fact, most of the time it is far more material than one might think! Because of the accumulation, every once in a while it becomes necessary to clean out the attic. […]
Christian Love
If you were to describe the purpose of the Bible in one word, what might that be? To one who has read the least bit of scripture, the answer is plain. It is love. God made it possible for us to know His will through the scriptures because He loves us. He wants us to […]
The Cheapness of Life
The Bible teaches man is made in the image of God, a special creation above all other creatures (Gen. 1:26-27). God is serious about the sanctity of the life of man. He instituted the death penalty for murderers long ago, and still authorizes the government to enact it today (Gen. 9:5-6; Rom. 13:1-4). Thus, life […]
Character
John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4). Holy conduct will bring genuine joy. John rejoiced that many of his converts were walking a holy life and his rejoicing gives us two good lessons. First, the source of joy. Every parent who has sent […]
Your Spiritual Summer Bucket List
Most have heard of a “bucket list”. Often, a bucket list consists of things people want to do before they “kick the bucket” and die. Maybe they want to visit a dream destination, jump out of an airplane, or scuba dive with the sharks. Yet, for our sakes today, we want to think about our […]
Caught Up Into Heaven
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul describes something marvelous that happened to him: about how he was caught up into the third heaven. He states in vs. 2, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago — whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not […]
Care for the Troubled Heart
The opening of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is unusual. After stating his greetings from himself and Timothy, and expressing God’s grace to the readers, he exalted the comfort he had received from God (vv. 3-7). “Comfort,” used 10 times in this text and translated as “comfort/comforteth” and “consolation,” causes someone to be encouraged […]
Can You Tell the Difference?
Have you ever seen anyone really excited about baseball? You know the kind. They know the stats of a game at any given time. They attend every game, watch it on television, or listen to it on the radio. They know the name of every player on their favorite team, plus the name and face […]
The Iceberg Principle
As little as one-eighth of an iceberg is visible above the water. Most of the mass of an iceberg lies below the water’s surface. This is an important principle. On the negative side, people can hide a lot of wickedness from their family and church in their heart and actions through deception. Matthew 15:19-20 says, […]