Have you ever wondered who cleaned that big, beautiful architectural wonder we know as Solomon’s temple? Did the high priest’s wife sneak an illegal immigrant across the border to do it? Did she hire a troop of maids for minimum wage and no benefits? Actually, according to 1 Chronicles 23:28-29, the cooking and cleaning were done …
Today, on this day when we especially celebrate freedom in the USA, I’d just like to leave this thought with you: “We are called to present liberty of conscience, not liberty of view. If we are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty — the liberty of realizing the …
To me, the saddest verse in the Bible is Luke 2:43: “After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.” (NIV) Or, as the New Living Translation puts it, they “didn’t miss him.” Joseph and Mary were good people. They …
How often do you think about your big toe? Probably not too often. But when I broke mine, I thought about it a lot—how to make it comfortable, how far I could walk before its complaining became unbearable, what areas I could negotiate with the crutches it required. And because I had this broken toe …
Quick—what’s wrong with this picture? Can you see it? Or are you so used to seeing Easter bunnies sitting on colored chicken eggs that you don’t even see the contradiction anymore? If you have kids, if you’ve ever been around kids, or if you’ve ever been a kid, you’ve heard the question, “What’s wrong with …
Is there a supreme, overarching purpose to life? Is there a single motto, a common life goal, that will bring meaning to anyone in any walk of life? Check out this quotation from Messiah, by Jerry D. Thomas: The law of selfless love is the law of life for earth and heaven … All created …
Have you ever indulged a spirit of resentment? Maybe someone truly wrongs you and, when you bring it to their attention, they respond with the equivalent of “Get over it!” They don’t apologize, they don’t try to make things right, they don’t even seem to care that they hurt you. You have the right to be …
Are you up to another short quiz today? I heard, “Yeah, bring it on!”—so here we go. This is an easy-peasy one—we’ll even make it open book. Just complete the following sentence, found in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV). “Therefore if any man be in Christ …” A. “… he can become a new creature.” B. …
A little quiz today—multiple choice: You come home from work to find that your house is a charred, smoking pile. You learn that some rough-looking dudes burned it down right after they kidnapped your family. How do you respond? A. Oh, poor me! Why did this happen to me? Whatever did I do to deserve …
Today is Mike’s big day—the day he’s looked forward to all his life. Today his dad is turning the family’s balloon ride business over to him. And Mike’s ready. He’s worked in the company all his life, starting with picking up after the tourists as a kid. He majored in business at college. He …