2013 Column Message of Week Archive Stories

As I get older, it seems like I am naturally drawn to people who have some obvious issues in their lives. You know — character defects that can be easily see or identified. As a Christian, I love people, but it seems like I love the imperfect ones more. I know from the Bible that there no perfect people, only those who think they a

II Corinthians 3:15-17 talks about the heart of man. Jesus taught about heart sins. His main point was in the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, then He states where your treasure is, is where the heart will be. Many people have their hearts on going to heaven and believe that Jesus died on the cross, and by that act, they are f

A teacher was teaching a class of teenagers when one of them said, "I don't like cops." The teacher said, "They're called police or peace officers." The teacher surmised the boys didn't live in a very peaceful environment, which was confirmed by their unruly behavior. One might say they didn't obey the rules. All of us obey rules —

Many, many years ago, the story was told of a celebrated actor/orator who was doing a reading, as such people used to do, in a theater in New York. He was very eloquent and dramatic in his delivery, and the audience gave him a standing ovation for his performance. Having the time, and wanting to please the audience even more, he asked if anyone

Down through history, people have always tried to build wondrous things that they thought would last forever. Around the time of Jesus, people acknowledged the Seven Wonders of the World. Three of these were the pyramids in Egypt; the great and beautiful Hanging Gardens of Babylon; and the Colossus of Rhodes, which stood nearly 100 feet high. Of

Much of the world is once again about to celebrate the central, miraculous claim of the Christian faith: the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth in the 1st century in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Is this the perpetuation of ancient imaginations and legend, a benign fable, wishful thinking or the most astonishing event in human history? The a

Every human being, without exception, is born with the imputation of Adam's sin. Everyone is born in union with Adam, identified with him, and thus mankind's common problem is its connection with Adam. It's not just the truth that everyone has the propensity to sin (we are all born with a sinful nature) but that we are born with the guil

One of the more famous stories in the Bible is often referred to as the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus tells of a younger brother who asks for his share of the inheritance and gets it, and then leaves home and squanders his wealth in "wild living." In today's terms, we'd say he spent his money on drugs, sex and partying. For a while things w

How many times have you been asked in your life “What’s your name?” Certainly, more times than you can count. Have you ever been asked or told that “you should live up to your name”? Usually, that is in the context of what someone in your family has done before you. When Jesus began his earthly ministry, he

As we prepare for Easter, we are considering the holes in our life we need God to fill; things that prevent us from experiencing Christ fully in our lives and what God does to fill the hole. This week we are looking at boundaries. I realize in my relationships with others, usually the most frustrating times are caused not by the other pe

In the scripture, Jesus speaks of his disappointment and utter heart break because his own people refused to hear and heed the summons of God to draw near, and to return home: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gat

On Dec. 7, 1941, 353 Japanese fighter planes swarmed Pearl Harbor, bringing immense destruction. Now that we know most of the details of that day, it is sobering to realize that it could have been prevented. At 7 o’clock that Sunday morning, those planes were still over 130 miles away, 50 minutes from dropping their first bomb. At

We have all experienced the discouragement or heart-ache that come to us from disappointments in life. Some of our disappointments dissipate after a short while. Others hang on for an extended period of time, leading at times to depression or bitterness. How should we handle disappointments in life? We can learn much from the sho

Last week I was reading a short editorial article written by James Meredith. He was writing of the rich history of the National Football League. He recounted stories of the all-time greats such as Raymond Berry, Walter Payton and Deon Sanders. He wrote of coaches such as Tom Landry and Tony Dungy who not only impacted their teams and the league,

It's the New Year. We ended last year with the generosity of Christmas, and we begin the New Year with a new resolve for good things. It is a good time to do such things, for God set the times and the seasons knowing we need the hope that change is on the way. So, we all in some way look at the past and then the future and make decisions.

We have been looking at the differences between two great future events on God’s calendar, the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15 and the Bema Seat of Christ (translated “judgment seat of Christ” in the Authorized Version). Some verses for the Bema are Romans 14:10, I Corinthians 3:12-15, and II Corinthians 5:10

In Philippians 3:10 the Apostle Paul writes, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death.” I think that this Scripture sums up the Christian call better than any other. In a world marked by confusion and division, it is possible for