The husbands and wives who gave their all to the founding of the fledgling republic called the United States of America paid a dear price for their service— especially those among the leaders of the first Continental Congress. John Adams was one who endured long months of separation from his wife, Abigail, and their children. Massachusetts was their home, but the demands of statehood kept him in Philadelphia for lengthy ...
Read MoreBut coming to know God’s saving love is only part of the story. I have discovered through decades of ministry that many Christians don’t know the depth of God’s love. They have met the God who is love; they know the fact of God’s love. But they live their lives in the shallow end of the pool. They think that once God’s love has been experienced through the forgiveness of ...
Read MoreNoah could have used a smartphone! After bobbing around on a worldwide ocean for a year, he had no idea where he was when he and his family disembarked after the Flood. With a smartphone, Noah could have easily used the location finder to determine that they had landed in (what would become modern-day) Turkey, on the side of a mountain called Ararat. Any number of map apps could have ...
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, most churches had some sort of a Christmas pageant every year. The average-sized church could pull together enough grammar school-aged kids to be the cast and fill all the roles: shepherds, wise men, angels, the innkeeper, and the various animals that we assume were in the stable that eventful night. The plum roles, of course, were Mary and Joseph, given to a couple of the ...
Read MoreIt comes as a surprise to some young people today to learn that James Bond (“007”) was not the world’s first secret agent. In fact, countries and cultures for thousands of years have benefited from the work of super-sleuths. Even God has had spies and secret agents!
Read MoreIf you were around in 1968, you may remember an infamous musical that opened on Broadway called Hair. And if you were around the following year, you watched the opening number from Hair, a song called “Aquarius,” top the Billboard pop charts and stay there for six weeks.
Read MoreIf you find yourself watching the Olympic Games on television with some friends, here’s a piece of Olympic trivia with which to impress them:
Read MoreThe principle of sweetness also applies to the spiritual life. Did you know the English word “sweet” appears almost 100 times in the Bible? We don’t think of Scripture as talking much about sweetness, but it does. The Hebrew word is sometimes translated (especially in the first five books of the Old Testament) as “pleasing” or “soothing” instead of “sweet”—referring to the pleasing aroma of the sacrifices made to God. ...
Read MoreWhen I was a student at seminary, several professors had “legendary” reputations among the students. One who earned that mantel, and wore it justifiably, was Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, professor of Greek and New Testament. He was a favorite among students for many reasons. For one, he was a distinguished Southern gentleman—he was sure the Garden of Eden was somewhere in the low country of South Carolina near his beloved ...
Read MoreIf your spouse came with an owner’s manual, what helpful bits of information would you like to know?
Read More