not fooled
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” —Mark Twain
January 7, 2013
Why is it vital that we study all of God’s story—all of the Bible?
eutychus’ example
I must admit I was having a hard time staying awake. The guest speaker had been monotonously droning on for 45 minutes. According to the outline provided, he wasn’t even halfway through the sermon! “It isn’t my fault if I fall asleep,” I whispered to my wife. “Don’t be a Eutychus!” she replied, even as she poked me with her pen to keep me awake.
voice and verse
Occasionally, my mother’s voice invades my day—from inside my head. I can still hear her say, “Try not to borrow trouble from tomorrow,” and even “Remember to take a jacket.” Sometimes her tone and words come skidding out of my mouth when I’m disciplining my kids! At other times—thankfully—Bible verses occur to me as she would say them. She could (and still can) recite Scripture with as much certainty as I can say my name and address.
earthly loss, heavenly gain
What is the most valuable thing in your life? Some would say family—a spouse, children or parent. Others would list career, education or material possessions. Those struggling with sickness would likely say that health tops the list. Jesus illustrated this same question with two tiny parables (Matthew 13:44-46).
He told of two people who stumbled upon treasures. In both tales…
held
Our kids often come home excited to tell us the interesting things they’ve learned in school. So when our 9-year-old asked me if I knew how to balance a book at least an inch high off the counter on just a sheet of paper, I knew there had to be a logical explanation though I couldn’t envision it. Taking out…
disobedient doubt
What do these famous men have in common: Sigmund Freud, Jean-Paul Sartre, Bertrand Russell, Karl Marx, Pablo Picasso, and Aldous Huxley? They all declared that they did not believe in God, and all were sexually promiscuous. Coincidence?
In The Making of an Atheist, James Spiegel explains that many modern thinkers expressed doubts about God, at least in part, because it made…
February 1, 2012
What’s a prayer or verse that you begin your day with each morning? Why is it important for you to begin your day this way?
if i were the devil
In the foreword of R. C. Sproul’s book Knowing Scripture, J. I. Packer writes: “If I were the devil . . . one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible. . . . How? Well, I should try to distract all clergy from preaching and teaching the Bible, and spread the feeling that to…
all in the family
In his poignant article, Abba Changes Everything: Why Every Christian Is Called To Rescue Orphans, author and adoptive parent Russell D. Moore writes: “I was at first reluctant to adopt, because I assumed an adopted child would always be more distant than a child ‘of my own.’ I was wrong. And I should have known better. After all, there are…
to the heart
The year was 1897. In a village garbage dump at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, two British archaeologists unearthed some scraps of paper—the discarded contents of a wastepaper basket. When the men read the first few words on the “trash,” they knew they had discovered something big—very big.
The Greek New Testament has a vocabulary of nearly 5,500 words, of which some 500…
handle with care
Various vacations have taught me that jet skis and boulders don’t go together. Neither do 3-wheelers and thin ice.
My motorized mishaps began when, as a kid, my family spent the afternoon visiting friends. Willing to accommodate my need for speed, their son let me use his go-cart. He showed me the gas pedal but assumed I would find the…
what's your life verse?
So what’s your life verse or favorite Bible passage? I new a guy who claimed this was his life verse: “At Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar” (1 Chronicles 26:18 KJV). Needless to say, he had a wry sense of humor. :)
My life verses are found in Proverbs 3:4-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your…
the five solas
On October 31, the US, UK, and many European countries celebrate Halloween. Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic Samhain festival, where it is believed that on this day, the boundary between the living and the dead dissolved. Subsequently, the dead could cause problems such as sickness for the living. Halloween is now a multimillion-dollar industry for retailers.
But…
resizing ourselves
I recently read an article that described how former US President Theodore Roosevelt would sometimes close a long day spent with diplomats. He would lead them outside of the White House, stand on the lawn, and gaze into the sky. As he scanned the stars and the vastness of the universe, his guests would follow his example. After a lengthy…
