The question people often ask is actually how Judas died. The Bible seems to describe it in two different ways. He hanged himself and he fell headlong and his bowels gushed out. The answer to that one is easy. He died in a botched attempt to hang himself. The result was what he intended, but it…
Click here to read the first article in this series. Many of the trials in my life have been minor or short-lived. I could gut it out and the trial would be over with. But when I was diagnosed with an irreversible, progressive muscle disease between my junior and senior years of college, I had…
Due to the nature of our family’s ministry, we have much interaction with cross-cultural missionaries serving Christ around the globe. One of my favorite things to do is to fellowship with a missionary who has served Christ for many years. I love to ask them questions like this: “What is one of the main lessons…
How widely do you read? Do you get these references from literature? “In the late 1920s, Gladys Aylward worked as a British parlor maid but had dreams of becoming an actress. At that time, many working class women would serve the wealthy, as depicted in Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mysteries.” “As a well-off aristocrat, Lilias…
A Misunderstood Person There’s quite a bit of confusion in the church today about the person of the Holy Spirit. People may know a lot about God the Father and Jesus Christ, but few seem to have a Biblical understanding of who the Spirit is or what He does. Some think that the Spirit is…
In 1 Timothy 5, Paul gives the qualifications for widows who were to be enrolled in the church care program. In 1 Timothy 5:11–12 Paul commands that the church refuse to enroll younger widows, because they will eventually want to remarry (which Paul encourages in 1 Timothy 5:14) and may abandon “their former faith,” perhaps…
Revelation 9:12 announced, “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two more woes hereafter.” “Woe” is the typical word found in the Old and New Testaments to express pain, anger or lament. Practically speaking, it acts as a curse or a connection of consequences to evil actions or circumstances. For instance, in the book…
Roger Olson, in his interesting The Story of Christian Theology, remarks on p. 137, “No one can say just what percentage of the citizens and subjects of the empire were Christians by that time [c. ad 301], but a fair estimate would be about 5 percent.” Olson is remarking on the incredible sea change that…
(A Right Response to Rancor in the Ranks) The Psalmist sang, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes!” (Ps. 118:23) When God’s work is made evident by the gathering together of likeminded constituents, the construction of facilities, and lives being changed, God’s people ought to say, “This is the Lord’s doing;…
Weep with those that weep (Romans 12:15) There are times when deep sorrow is right and righteous. This is one. Our hearts broke as we watched the news this week. This one hit home. It’s not that we don’t mourn over the loss of life at a nightclub or a concert, but this one happened…