A couple of years ago, my oldest brother, Dennis, broke a toe, and he was sent to a podiatrist. This business is a big, bustling medical facility specializing in treating feet that’s been heavily advertised with a memorable jingle. We started with a positive impression. The parking lot and waiting room were full up; business…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Brother Tom Dennis was an evangelist among the churches of Christ for many decades. In addition to his many good works, Tom served as the editor and publisher of The Gospel Message for a few years. Paul said of his fellow worker Epaphroditus, “Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and…
When Jesus was in Jerusalem with his disciples just a few days before he was betrayed and condemned to death, he had a conversation with them about the troubling times that lay ahead. He warned of unrest among the Jews that would lead to the catastrophic destruction of the temple in Jerusalem along with much…
One hundred and forty-three years ago, a fellow named Charles W. Fry wrote a hymn entitled “The Lily of The Valley.” The opening line is, “I have found a friend in Jesus; he’s everything to me.” That sentiment of friendship with Jesus turns up in quite a few Christian songs, singing of “friendship with Jesus,…
God’s word endorses mercy, as Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). The prophet Hosea wrote that God desires “mercy, and not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6), which Jesus echoed (Matthew 12:7). The Lord wants mercy more than rituals performed by worshipers. James warns us that “judgment is without mercy to…
Luke chapter 1 reports the divine promises, delivered by the angel Gabriel, of the impending births of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. Both births were for God’s purposes, fulfilling prophecies at a time chosen by God. Both depended on God’s power. John’s birth would be an answer to previous prayers (1:13) at a…
Paul recounted in 2 Corinthians 11:24 that among his labors and sufferings for the sake of Christ, he’d been beaten five times by fellow Jews with “forty lashes minus one.” That description was uniquely Jewish. Neither the Romans nor any other ancient nation had a similar limitation. God’s word in Deuteronomy 25:3 stated that a…
By and large, the world isn’t sold on gentleness as a great quality to aspire to, although almost everyone appreciates being treated gently by others, especially by people who have power over us, including our parents in childhood and various governing authorities or bosses we may deal with in adult life. Even so, the world…
If someone said, “no sweat,” we would probably understand the meaning to be, “this won’t be hard.” If someone said, “don’t sweat it,” we would probably take the meaning as, “don’t be afraid or anxious.” Sweat correlates with difficulty, hard work, stress, and anxiety. The Bible specifically mentions sweat three times.
Lest we make the sort of mistake Moses himself made in Egypt, the messages in Exodus 2 includes that oppressed people shouldn’t be oppressed, they deserve deliverance and justice, but at the same time oppressed people are not inherently innocent or better than the people oppressing them. In the words of the Israelite antagonist oppressing his fellow slave, we hear an echo of Sodom. Victims and victimizers both alike are sinners and need the mercy and grace of God and divine instruction to order their lives. We’ve all been “straying like sheep” and all need to turn to “the Shepherd and Overseer” of our souls (1 Peter 2:25).