Do you want to experience the sum total of spiritual blessings in your life as we move into a New Year? As Christians, we have already received one blessing after another. We read in the Greek text of John 1:16, charin anti charitos, literally grace in place of...
As we reflect on what God has done for us in sending Jesus Christ into our world, may we like those Israelites of long ago be full of hope and joy as we worship the King of kings! As we look around our world with all of the challenges, discord, disease, and violence,...
Jesus declared in John 8:34, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” But Jesus Christ came to set us free from the penalty of sin – past, present, and future. Steve Farrar, in his book Finishing Strong, notes three things about...
In Jesus’s parable of the talents, he talks about a man going on a journey. He entrusted to one servant five talents, to another servant two talents and to another servant one talent. The one who received five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made...
Do you know many humble people? Can you name a person who is humble? We read in 1 Peter 5:5-6, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the...
I love the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17. In that story, Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem on the border between Galilee and Samaria, and as he enters a village, he encounters ten lepers. They all cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Jesus looks at them...
There is an interesting trend among many church-attenders, especially since COVID but really beginning before the pandemic. According to Dr. Thom Rainer of Church Answers, it is “The Quarter-Time Church Member”. As Dr. Rainer suggests, “Over one-half of church...
Would you like to leave an inheritance for your children or grandchildren? I think many parents/grandparents would like to be able to leave an inheritance for their children. I know many children would like that also! We read in Romans 8:17, “. . . and if children,...
The Bible is offensive! The fact of the matter is that the Bible is going to offend many people, for at least two reasons: First, the Cross of Christ is offensive. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:23, “. . . but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews...
This Sunday is “Fan the Flame” Sunday! We are being called to make an eternal investment – not a temporary investment. We are all investing in something. We invest our time, energy, money, and other resources in what interests us – in our work, our families, our...