The book of Jonah has always been a favorite of many over the years, not only because it has a really good story, but also because of the many lessons that can be taken from its text. To that end, there is one word that appears four times in this book that seems to have…
In Acts 27, Luke records an interesting narrative that adds insight into and lessons from Paul. Peter remarks in 1 Peter 2:12, “having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Paul appealed…
Back in the early to mid-1930s, Jean Piaget conducted some research in regard to the way that intelligence develops in humans. One of his conclusions dealt with the idea of object permanence. Through his experiments, he decided that children, specifically those under the age of 2, did not have a sense of objects still existing…
From the moment God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), two abiding truths have been abundantly clear. 1) Life is sacred and precious to God. 2) Mankind, sadly, often fails to concur. When God confronts Cain for murdering Abel in Genesis 4, Cain appears to immediately grasp the serious implications of…
Recently, I was reading an article about giving advice to one’s younger self. If I could go back and give advice to my younger self, one of the most valuable nuggets of advice I would give is, “Dan, turn off the tv, put down the video games, and stop focusing on your car; it will…
Remember the children’s song about the boy who gave Jesus his “two little fish and five loaves of bread”? It closes with these words: “All that I have, All that I have, I will give Jesus all that I have.” That is a powerful promise and not one to be made lightly. And it is entirely in…
How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word” (Psalm 119:9). This scripture beckons us to think of prospects and possibilities beyond imagination. Youth is filled with promise. Energy and talent are ready to emerge. When youth has faded, there is an assurance of something more. Cleansing the way is…
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…
Many people are very aware of what they put into their bodies. We have diets of all kinds for all people. You can have a paleo diet, a Mediterranean diet, Atkins, or diabetic. In some cases, these diets are for health reasons, and sometimes they are about how we feel about ourselves. Throughout the years,…
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (1 Peter 2:15). Peter makes the case that our submitting to government “for the Lord’s sake” by doing good allows us to impact the political narrative (1 Peter 2:13). The most effective and godly way…