This past weekend proved to be a historical event in the lives of our family. It was the final tournament of our basketball season! It has been a long season, and we were all happy to walk away with a trophy and a strong showing in the final game! Like most tournaments, the refs took…
Read MoreI wrote last week about the intrinsic tie between a Chinese religious cult called Falun Gong and the popular conservative newspaper called Epoch Times. I have been asked for a follow-up and explanation. The Association with Falun Gong One of the original clues I saw regarding the relationship between the Epoch Times and Falong Gong…
Read MoreChristian parents have the responsibility and privilege to bring their children up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:1–4). One of the challenges—perhaps the most difficult—is teaching our children not only to obey, but also to love God. Children who grow up in Christian homes and churches are somewhat similar to children…
Read MoreFacing the Facts, Finding the Way Jesus put it bluntly: “the labourers are few.” He did not mince words. He challenged the disciples to face the facts and find the way forward. He told them to pray to the Lord of the harvest. They were to ask for laborers for an abundant harvest of souls.…
Read MoreIn his letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul was constrained to speak on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they are to be ministered under the operation of love. That being so, it became necessary for him to spend some time showing what love looked like in its “working clothes.” He continued…
Read MoreThe word patience, as it is usually employed, means the ability to tolerate or to suppress irritation at delay or discomfort. But this patience is not precisely the quality that the apostle Peter had in mind when he wrote in his second epistle that Christians were to add to their faith “patience.” (2 Pet. 1:5,…
Read MoreI fell for it. It eventually gets difficult to buy gifts for older people. After all, they have almost everything they need—in fact, usually more than they need. So, for my 86-year-old mother, we have been buying tickets to the symphony or other such concerts as Christmas and birthday presents. But even with classical forms…
Read MoreIn our FrontLine Interviews series, we turn to an article from our “The God of Beauty” edition of FL to an article by Doug Bachorik, chairman of the music department at Maranatha Baptist University. His contribution speaks to the beauty of music in our worship services, but points out that it isn’t beauty for beauty’s…
Read MoreJames 4 begins by addressing the manifest problem of quarreling and fighting. James pinpoints the source of such a problem. Then he reveals the solution to that problem. The Source of the Problem: Worldly Passions (James 4:1–4) What are passions? And what makes them worldly? Passions are fleshly desires or lusts (desires misdirected). According to…
Read MoreThe concept of love in our modern American society is so very distorted from the truth. It ranges somewhere between the Hollywood version that is nothing more than fleshly lust to the smarmy Kodak version of love we see in television commercials, e.g., a man and a woman walking their dog on the beach in…
Read More