If you could be any character in the Christmas story, to witness the first nativity first hand, what character would you want to be and why?  That was the question we recently posed at a Christmas party with our church life group. Answers we heard – wise men, Joseph, the inn keeper, even animals in the stable. No one said Mary.  But the most popular answer – a shepherd. Why a shepherd? Because the...

Proverbs 1:1-71 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:2 To know wisdom and instruction,To discern the sayings of understanding,3 To receive instruction in wise behavior,Righteousness, justice, and integrity;4 To give prudence to the naïve,To the youth knowledge and discretion,5 A wise person will hear and increase in learning,And a person of understanding will acquire wise couns...

In this season of Advent, as we reflect on Jesus Christ being born in the flesh as a baby, let us consider Jesus’ first coming from the perspective of His great sacrifice for you and for me. The Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in it entered into his own creation, leaving the glory He had with the Father before the world began, entering into humanity to give His very life as a ...

Many more phone calls have been appearing on my phone labeled “Spam Risk” over the last few weeks. I haven’t done anything differently with my phone, but they are now up to 5+ calls a day. I have received several data breach notices from cyber security companies within the past couple of months. What is a data breach? Data breaches are security incidents where information is accessed, stolen, and ...

Our God has given each of us choices in this life.  The most important choices are to choose Him, the One and only True God or Satan the deceiver and father of lies. Unfortunately, our choices divide us. Those of us that believe in Jesus as Lord may sometimes disagree.  This can be good because He did not make us all the same. We are not all mature Christians.  We are all being sanctified forever ...

The book of Ezekiel opens with a fantastic vision — one which is difficult to express in human language — involving four-faced living beings with wings; wheels within wheels, moving in all directions; and a figure that looked like a man, and which, apparently, was God Himself.In the middle of all this, Ezekiel heard a voice speaking to him, giving him a mission: Declare God’s message to the people...

Many of you know that our family just returned from a trip to Philadelphia. As we visited many sites significant to our country’s independence, I was struck with how important words are. For example, we visited Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. (See pictures.)           We only half-jokingly wondered if there really is a map on the back of the Declaration of Indep...

John 9:25 ”One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”Can you imagine opening your eyes and seeing for the first time? The colors, the sights, but most important seeing the faces of your loved ones. How amazing that would be!In the same way we need to have our spiritual eyes opened to see the world through God’s eyes; to see the lost and lonely, and to understand that spiritual warfare ...

The Old Testament is important to our Christian faith because it teaches us about who God is, that is, about His holy character and what His gracious love is like. Interestingly, these things aren't taught to us directly through divinely guided theological reflections (cf. like with the New Testament letters), but more indirectly, through narratives (cf. as in Genesis and the first part of Exodus)...

“Lord, Why Am I in Jail?” the Apostles must have been thinking. They were doing exactly what the Lord had told them to do. They were in the center of God’s will. Their consciences were clear as it always is when we simply do what Jesus tells us to do.In Acts 4 they were telling folks about Jesus and were “seized” by the guards and ended up spending the night in jail. They were unashamed because th...

Mark 11:22 "Jesus answered and said have faith in GOD." The Bible teaches in Hebrews 11:6 " But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that comes to GOD must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." To believe GOD, one must accept the Bible as the inspired word of GOD. The Bible is the complete and full revelation of who GOD is. To reject the Bi...

I couldn’t sleep the other night because I was thinking about the state of our country and world. We are distracted by so many things. Terror in Israel, politics, assassination attempt, anti-Christian message from the Olympics, the organization that is supposed to be bringing the whole world together is failing in its “goal.†But for a Christian, all of this is a distraction. It seems to me ....

I Corinthians 1:26-31“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are...

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Matthew 16:13-16 CSB (see also Mark 8:27-29, Lu...

Anyone here suffering from Olympic withdrawal? It was exhilarating to observe real physical competition instead of political wrangling. It's amazing watching the physical feats of young people and, on occasion, middle-aged people (outlier: Zeng Zhiying, who was born in China, made her Olympics debut at age 58 for Chile in table tennis) perform their remarkable physical and mental feats. Many have ...

Proverbs 3:6 "In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight." NIV2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NASB95)14. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore, all died. 15. And He died for all. So that they who live might not live for themselves. But for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."These verses are jammed pack with conviction...

In the closing chapter of several of Paul’s epistles (Rom. 16:1–24 and 2 Tim. 4:9–15; 19–21, for example) he includes the names of a number of people. Many of them are people he wishes to greet, or who send their greetings. In other cases, he thanks or commends them. In a few cases he warns others about them. Whether positive or negative, all these names are preserved in God’s Word—which lasts for...

“Can a Christian get a tattoo?”  “Do we have to keep the Sabbath?”  Questions like these are common as people seek to understand how the Mosaic Law relates to our lives as Christians.The Christian’s relationship to the Old Testament Law has a long history. As early as Augustine, the law was divided into moral commandments and ceremonial commandments, with the idea that the ceremonial laws includin...

In the circles I run in the debate on Calvinism, often comes up. It is an important “in house” debate on an important facet of life.  Fortunately for everyone reading this, I am not going to talk about Calvinism, but rather an admonishment I received. During Bible study a friend and I were having a friendly debate on Calvinism, which took us off the main topic. We were discussing why God bothers t...

            Every Christian should have an answer for this question. It seems simple, but can be hard to put words to sometimes. It is also often sold short. The Gospel, in short, is the good news! The good news that Jesus died for you by being sacrificed on the cross. He died in your place. The problem is, you can’t understand the good news if you don’t already know the bad news. That’s where you...