NOURISH YOUR SPIRIT
“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). As I grow older and my body deteriorates I need to remember that I am also spirit and soul. It seems that as we age we spend more time taking care...
WHY DO WE NEED TO PRAY? WHAT IS THE POINT OF PRAYER?
Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8) If this is so, why should we pray? What is the point of prayer? John Calvin answers: “Believers do not pray with the view of informing God about things unknown to him, or of exciting him to...
THE ABUNDANT LIFE
Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly (in all its fulness)” (John 10:10). What does it mean to have the life of Christ more abundantly? Charles Spurgeon suggests seven ways. First, desire more stamina. Laborers in the kingdom of...
OUR PRESENT SICKNESS
I am a person not an object. I am a unique person, made in the image of God, of value and significance. I am loved and capable of love. I was created for relationships to others and most importantly to God. I am a particular person with particular likes and dislikes,...
LOVE IS NOT RUDE
“Love is not rude” (1 Corinthians 13:5). What constitutes rudeness? “I cannot believe how condescending and sarcastic he is!” We had traveled a long way to stay with friends we had not seen in a long time. From the moment we arrived one of the hosts dominated the...
THE GOSPEL SOLUTION TO NATURAL CALAMITY
When do we view natural calamity as part of the normal cycle of human suffering only or a divine judgment? In reading about Noah and the Flood in Genesis 6, “the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of...
THE TRANSFORMATION OF DEATH
I have just completed reading BONHOEFFER: PASTOR, MARTYR, PROPHET, SPY by Eric Metaxas, an inspiring biography of the Christian theologian who worked against Hitler and the National Socialists. He was 39 years old when he was executed for opposition to the Nazis only...
LOVE WHO?
When Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves and illustrates it by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, he is saying that we are to love everybody according to their need. There are no exceptions to this command. In contrast to romantic love or...
WHY DO PEOPLE MESS UP?
Why is it that every person has character flaws, makes mistakes, says the wrong thing, alienates themselves from others, thinks he or she is better than others, never admits he or she is wrong and messes up when they have good intentions? It is because since the fall...
WHY CAN’T WE LIVE IN PEACE?
There is so much hate, rage and conflict in the world. Where does it come from? We are called to love one another. Can education, censorship or legislation eliminate the source of hate? Christianity teaches the dignity and the degradation of humanity. What did Jesus...
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