a sulking prophet
We might think of God’s prophets as holy and well-behaved, somewhat like that model student in school. But there was a prophet who had the audacity to yell, “God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!” Jonah was that man, and his words are written in the Bible for all to see.
new name, new life?
Each year, thousands of people change their names. Some of these changes reflect a deep desire for a new life. “I changed my name and it changed me,” wrote singer Alina Simone in The New York Times. “When I think back to my old self, I think of an entirely different person, not altogether likable,” she reflects. That old person, Alina Vilenkin, was put aside. Alina Simone formed a band, tried new things, and poured her “best self” into her new name.
unlikely candidates
According to Martin Luther, Jesus was standing with sinners even from His birth. Luther wrote, “Christ is the kind of person who is not ashamed of sinners—in fact, He even puts them in His family tree!” This was never truer than when Matthew wrote down his account of Jesus the Messiah. He included two people in Jesus’ family tree—Judah and Tamar—who were truly unlikely candidates.
breaking away
Say the word glacier and most of us think of something massive and slow-moving. One group of Alaskan tourists, however, witnessed a jaw-dropping surprise when a 200-foot-tall chunk of ice broke away from a glacier.
One passenger aboard the Tracy Arm Fjords Tours boat captured a video clip of the “mini” iceberg plunging into the water. It created forceful waves and…
you choose Q: how do I deal with the guilt of my past?
Q: How do I deal with the guilt of my past? —Shellie
A: You’ve asked how you can deal with the guilt of your past, presumably due to some sin—something you regret. Perhaps you feel entrapped by these memories.
Jesus assured us that “every sin can be forgiven” (Matthew 12:31). If you have confessed and repented, God will forgive you (1…
criticism
One Sunday morning a pastor got up in the pulpit and apologized for the Band-Aid on his face. He said, “I was thinking about my sermon while shaving, and I cut my face.” Afterward he found a note in a collection plate, “Next time, think about your face and cut the sermon.” That critique of the pastor’s sermon may have…
altering God's law
Leviticus 20:10-11: If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death. If a man violates his father by having sex with one of his father’s wives, both the man and the woman must be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.
Have you…
looking good for the race
Hebrews 12:11-15: No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame…
verbal strikes
I grew up under the weight of a verbally abusive grandfather. To this day, years after his death, I still struggle with ramifications of things he said to me and how I responded.
During my teenage years, I took my grandfather’s endless criticism with a grain of salt and made every effort to respond to him in a gentle Christlike…
forget the devil?
Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said: “I am certain that one of the main causes of the ill state of the church today is the fact that the devil is being forgotten. We have become so psychological in our attitude and thinking. We are ignorant of this great objective fact—the being, the existence of the devil, the adversary, the accuser.”
While we…
blameless
The word blameless has become such an anomaly today that we rarely hear it used. Well, at least not in the arenas of business, sports, or politics. You hear the words shrewd and skillful being spoken, but definitely not blameless. So when this word recently popped up during a casual conversation, it stirred my interest. Two questions came to mind: What…
this one belongs to God
Revelation 12:10-12: Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him…
oh well
“I would rather work with pagans than with other Christians!”
My friend’s statement wouldn’t be particularly surprising for an agnostic or atheist to make. But he’s a minister. Why can believers in Jesus sometimes be so difficult and nasty? How does that resonate with the way Jesus told us to resolve conflict?
In ancient Mesopotamia, Abraham’s son Isaac showed a…
