seller beware
Every buyer is also a seller. If I buy apples from you, then you’re selling your apples and “buying” my money, while I am “selling” my money to buy your apples. For every time you make a purchase, you must give up something to make the transaction. If you have nothing to sell, there’s nothing you can buy.
counting the cost
Jesus’ good friend Lazarus had died (John 11:14,17). And so He performed an amazing miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44)—leading many who came to the funeral to believe in Him (John 11:45). But the Pharisees and priests responded differently. From that time on, they began to plot Jesus’ death (John 11:53).
rebuilding the altar
Each New Year promises the opportunity to start afresh—the prospect of a new beginning. The Israelites had been a rebellious and disobedient people. After 70 years of exile, they were allowed to return home to Judea. They were also given the necessary help and resources to rebuild their temple (Ezra 1). They could start afresh with God. But how do you start afresh with Him?
He broke our fall
Last year, Brad Pitt was hobbling around with a cane after having torn his ACL—a ligament in his knee. He told reporters, “I was carrying my daughter down the hill and I slipped. It was either her or me” who would get hurt. Brad Pitt loved his daughter so much that took the brunt of the fall for her. Obviously, Pitt is not Jesus and tearing an ACL wasn’t death, but his sacrifice for his daughter is an illustration of the way Jesus sacrificed His life and carried wounds and death in His body for us. Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).
dying for Jesus?
At a missions conference, the director challenged the participants to consider fulltime missionary work—calling for those who were willing to die for Jesus to stand up and to receive prayer. No one did. Discouraged, he complained to the senior pastor. The pastor said, “Don’t fret if no one is willing to die for Jesus. Worry if no one is wanting to live for Jesus!”
generational investment
Standing quietly in the back, I am moved by the sight. Arms reach upward, voices carry throughout the room, and a tireless energy reverberates to the sound of the drum. Passionate and full of promise, they are far more than a group of teenagers. They are sons and daughters of God—the generation now, not next.
the counts
It’s likely you didn’t wake up this morning and think Hope my white blood cell counts are climbing! I did. Why? Due to a recent bone marrow transplant, my blood cells have been doing their own version of the “limbo” (“How low can you go?”). Low counts aren’t good. They mean you’ll have a tough time fighting off disease and that you might be dealing with some serious medical maladies. Those tiny little red-and-white blood cells can’t be seen, so most of us simply take them for granted.
diplomas in the deep
In the early 1900s, a brilliant young man named John left China to pursue an education in the US. He completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in just 5 years. But he was troubled by the question: “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Matthew 16:26). He ended up enrolling in…
laughter and tears
In September 2011, Stacie Crimm held her newborn baby and “laughed and cried all at once.” Surely most mothers are overcome with emotion as they see and touch the new life freshly emerged from the womb. But Stacie’s emotions were particularly poignant, for just 3 days later she died of cancer. During the pregnancy, she had refused medical treatments that…
heroic love
Nearly a year ago, a fierce 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey, killing hundreds of people. One man, however, refused to let his fiancee become a statistic.
A Turkish Air Force Lieutenant named Onur Eryasar rushed from his base and traveled 60 miles to direct rescue workers to the place where his fiancee was trapped. After locating the restaurant where she…
life and submission
Jesus taught us to lay down our lives for others. At its most costly moments, I believe this submission of our wills happens in four progressive stages.
The first stage is recognition. We are presented with a need or a person for whom a decision of submission must be made.
The second stage is deliberation. There will be a cost…
one meal, one body
Have you ever wondered why Jesus taught His followers to eat His “body” and drink His “blood” during the Lord’s Supper? The Jews misunderstood the idea (John 6:52), and the early Christians were even accused of “cannibalism.” Couldn’t Jesus have described this special meal with less controversy? Not really.
Jesus’ original meal with His disciples took place on the evening…
honored
The metro was packed with rush-hour travelers, and my family and I stood on the station platform waiting for the doors to open so we could board. Tired after a long day of sightseeing, we were already anticipating the refuge of our hotel room. I took my son’s hand and entered through the open train doors. As I looked for…
Jesus in the cradle
The cradle is means a great deal to me as I consider Christmas. God chose to have Jesus come to earth as a baby, born in a simple place, laid in a cradle. This says to me that God wants us to see Jesus as a real, sweet, wonderful, baby in a cradle . . . drinking milk, eating cereal,…
good call
Early in 2011, a US baseball coach made the best call of his career. Tom Walter, the coach of the Wake Forest University baseball team, chose to give up one of his kidneys so that one of his players could live. A freshman player, Kevin Jordan, had been stricken with a disease that attacked his kidneys and left them functioning…
