A nation may have an “open door policy” in its dealings with certain other nations regarding commerce and trade, but God has a different type of “open door policy.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the door to the church, to salvation, to heaven and to eternal life (John 10:7-10). He said, “I am…
A windfall comes your way. Your ship comes in. What do you do? How would you use it? With increasing frequency I am asked by and hear brethren talking about retirement or an inheritance. Often the question is asked, “What will I do when I retire?” or “What should I do with retirement?” Or, these…
One of the most widely recognized characters of Greek mythology is Narcissus. Narcissus, the Greeks tell us, was strikingly handsome and drew the attention of many admirers, but arrogantly rejected them all. Concerned about her son, one version of the story relates, his mother inquired of a seer as to what would become of him….
When Jesus was dying on the cross, one of the robbers crucified along with him that day asked Jesus to “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus’ answer was, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). Jesus promised that the hours of agony on the…
Few men have influenced my life so much as Richard Riggins. He radiated something which made it impossible to merely say one liked him. One had to think of him in terms of love. As a dirt poor boy in Charleston, Illinois, Richard went into a used book store and bought a dilapidated book for…
I recently received a call from a research group asking questions about discipleship. I suspected the underlying purpose was for the sake of marketing. I decided to participate, just to see if I could insert something edifying into the conversation. The questions were involved and thorough. The phone conversation took quite some time. One reason…
In the city of Jerusalem Jesus saw a man who had been blind from birth. The process by which He healed the man was uniquely different than other miracles of healing recorded in the Scriptures. We know Jesus could have spoken a word, or merely touched the man, but on this occasion He spat on…
The biblical description of the origin of the universe has several significant implications, one of them being that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. In fact, the Bible explicitly says humans and all land-dwelling creatures (including dinosaurs) were created on the same day (Genesis 1:24-31). While not the most important lesson learned from the first chapter of…
When we reach the summit of Hebrews, the author’s proof of the New Covenant’s superiority dismisses all potential debate with his moving conclusion, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (12:22). In this soaring language, we see the magnificent position to which Christians have…
In Philippians 2:14 we read, “Do all things without complaining and disputing.” No action is left out of the purview of this command. All things are to be done without grumbling or arguing. However, complaining appears to be one of our favorite activities. As the weather turns from winter to spring we rotate our complaints…