No man is greater than his prayer life. The preacher who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be the shop window to display one’s talents; the prayer closet allows for no showing off. Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most […]
The book of Job is included in that section of the Bible titled “Wisdom Literature” for a reason. Wisdom Literature closes the door on the grand narrative of the rise and fall of kingdoms, the unfolding of God’s covenant promises, and the dramatic details of the nation of Israel. Virtually none of this is mentioned […]
CHRIST the COMMISSIONER: As our Lord prepared to leave the planet, He sent His own on a mission of ultimate historical significance. The eternal destiny of the human race hangs in the balance. His commission, called “Great” for obvious reasons, would include four momentous ALLs. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘ALL authority […]
“Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Ps 119:133). No starker contrast could be drawn. The Hebrew word translated “iniquity” means “to exert oneself in vain.” When one does this, says the psalmist, the emptiness of it all suffocates the soul. Imagine that! As the Lord said through […]
William Williams, in his fascinating account of pioneer work in Venezuela, called It Can Be Done, tells how it was done, how a handful of missionaries, in a country one sixth the size of the U.S., carried the gospel to every city, town, and village in one generation. Facing strong opposition from the priests, long […]
CHRIST the ANTIDOTE to WORRY: Clearly there is a difference between legitimate concern and worry. Concern is taking seriously my responsibility; worry is taking God’s responsibility as if it were mine. The Lord said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you […]
“If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). When I was a boy, Sgt. Preston of the Mounted Police, with his Husky, Yukon King, was the hero of a popular TV series. Quaker Oats sponsored the program. As a promotion, the company purchased 19 acres of […]
What are the most positive and most negative sentences in the NT? The first reads, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every (lit. all) good work” (2 Cor 9:8). In the Greek, the root word for “all” occurs five […]
CHRIST the FOUNTAIN: “With You is the fountain of life” (Ps 36:9). Peter Cartright (1785-1872) is a remarkable example of the muscular Christianity that plowed up the fallow ground of the American frontier. Born to a poor, ungodly veteran of the Revolutionary War, he was converted at a gospel meeting a few miles from his […]