In a book that I like to refer to, namely the Bible, we find, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good”(Romans 12:9). Easy to read but so difficult to put into practice. Just HOW do we – those of us who profess a commitment to Christ, who have been transformed by the renewing…
Solomon writes in Proverbs 16:6, “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”This proverb neatly encapsulates the core of the gospel. Everyone desiring the salvation of our Lord must obtain atonement for sin and depart from evil. Solomon here describes the mechanisms by which we…
Long ago, the children of Israel were given the opportunity to hear the very words of God. The Lord God Almighty spoke to them and declared to them his commandments. The mountain shook, the lightning flashed, the voice of the Lord boomed out as smoke billowed from the mountain that the people surrounded. All the…
Humility, an essential Christian characteristic, is being set aside in our world of shameless self-aggrandizement and self-promotion. James clearly tells us that we cannot be children of God if we are not humble. “…Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and…
As some of you are aware, I have been on a long journey in search of that mystery called Faith. For me, it was an elusive prey, confounding my attempts to quantify and understand it, much less incorporate it into my very being. How is it, I wondered, that Faith was so simple…
I have often sung a song with the line, “this world is not my home, I’m just a passing through,” or another one, “here we are but straying pilgrims.” Both of these songs embody an ideal that it is sometimes hard for us to remember and grasp. Scripturally we can look at verses such as…
Solomon the wise both begins and ends the book of Ecclesiastes with the statement, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12:8). In modern vernacular, vanity often refers to the excessive valuing of one’s appearance or abilities in comparison with others. For example, to quote a portion of…
Did the Bible writers intend to record real history? Not according to some critics. One writer says, “Some stories in the Bible were meant to be history, others fiction…” And again, “…only some of the stories in the New Testament were meant as history.” This is a trending perspective on the Bible that is not…
It was just a matter of days before Jesus was crucified. He and the twelve had returned to Jerusalem. The teachings of Jesus and His wondrous works and miracles had been witnessed throughout the land. The following incident is recorded in Matthew 21, Mark 11 and Luke 20: “Now when He came into the temple,…
In Joshua chapter 2, we have the prelude to Israel’s first battle in Canaan to conquer the land God had promised centuries earlier to Abraham. Their first conquest would be Jericho, which was strongly defended in a strategically critical location. Israel’s leader, Joshua, secretly sent spies across the river to look over the land, especially…