Being aware of the dual realities that (1) in this world Christians are going to face a measure of tribulation and troubled times, and (2) the end of this world as we know it is nearer than ever, how should Christians live? In 1 Peter 4, the inspired apostle first challenges us to be alert…
A few years ago, I inherited a small, thin hard-cover devotional book, Devotions and Prayers of John Calvin. So, the material in each 2-page spread (devotional thoughts on 1 page, a prayer on the other) is about 500 years old. Calvin wrote in French, and the text was translated into English—when, I don’t know, but…
Have you noticed the strain that troubled times can put on a marriage? In a good marriage, a couple weathers life’s difficulties, and the relationship becomes stronger. But that’s only the case when both husband and wife come to the point of affirming (or reaffirming, as the case may be) their respective marital responsibilities. 1…
Peter’s first general epistle is written to Christians who are going through trying times, largely at the hands of others who are hostile to their Christian perspective and manner of life. When someone gives us a hard time, it’s easy to become consumed with desires for revenge or for their physical harm. And then it’s…
It’s pretty easy to be overwhelmed with all in our world that is contrary to the Christian faith. Reading the paper, watching TV, a casual perusal at the grocery store checkout, simple observation of people—all these things can surely give the impression that someone wanting to live his life according to the principles, precepts, and…
This is the season of celebrating and rejoicing in the birth of Jesus Christ. We make much of this time of the year, even more than of Easter. Of course, really, each Sunday is supposed to be a celebration of the resurrection—but I digress. Numerous songs of praise have been written extolling the birth of…
Several years ago, a federal judge drew some interesting conclusions in his 139-page decision concerning the teaching of Intelligent Design in Pennsylvania’s public schools. Of course, his bottom-line conclusion was that such teaching violated the constitutional separation of church and state—a dogma read into the Constitution only in relatively recent years—and therefore could not be…
It’s impossible to explain and beyond our comprehension, but the hope of eternal life offered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ is something that God promised before the world began: Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the…
There was a news item awhile ago about a man who had put his dead mother’s body in a freezer and kept it there for several years while he collected her social security money. Pretty bizarre and sordid. But could there be a more graphic, sordid story than that found in Judges 19-20? One of…
Are God, the church building, the Bible, a piece of cross-shaped jewelry Christian “good-luck charms”? Preposterous, you say? Think about it, especially in light of the attitude displayed by Micah (not the prophet!) in Judges 17. These are crazy days in Israel’s history—everyone doing what’s right in his own eyes. The spirit of idolatry has…