“O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jer 10:23). The headlines of the UK’s Daily Mail article announced: “Imam discovers worshippers at his mosque in Turkey have been praying in the wrong direction for 37 years.” According to […]
J. Budziszewski abandoned the Christian faith in his youth. His explanation is telling: “At the bottom of all atheism is self-deception…Self-deception means playing dumb. It means pretending to ourselves that we don’t know what we really do; it means playing at being ignorant though we are really in the know. I suggest that we human […]
JESUS the SUPREME COMMUNICATOR: “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (Jn 7:46). So said the mesmerized officers who had been sent to arrest Him. “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (Lk 4:22). This the testimony of Christ’s fellow townsmen. What of the […]
“Let my prayer be set before You as incense” (Ps 141:2). William Cowper wrote: What various hindrances we meet in coming to the Mercy Seat! Yet who that knows the worth of prayer but wishes to be often there? Prayer makes the darken’d cloud withdraw; prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, Gives exercise to faith […]
Complete faith in Christ is not only the gateway to Life but also the pathway of Living. “The just shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17). Russell Kelso Carter, author of “Standing on the Promises,” made a profession of faith in Christ at age 15, but in his words, “I made a common mistake; I didn’t […]
We don’t often think of ourselves writing a true-life autobiography each day, but we are. Standing in the shadows is the Editor-in-Chief. He gets a say in the twists and turns of the storyline. The red-letter days happen when our story criss-crosses with His story. This story is one of those days. […]
Two drinking parties going on at the same time in the same town. They’ll soon connect. What could go wrong? The Persian emperor Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) ruled over a vast realm of “one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia” (Est 1:1). The empire was divided into 20 satrapies, or territories, each governed by a satrap […]
CHRIST our CONSOLATION: “Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Lk 2:29-30). Old Simeon, who prayed this prayer, was waiting for “the Consolation of Israel.” This is parakletos, the encourager, one who adds courage. In the days of the Scottish Covenanters, John Brown […]
“Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Ps 85:6). Maria Monsen, a Norwegian missionary in North China, began praying for revival. She sought a prayer partner who would join her in claiming the promise “that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will […]