“You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Lk. 12:40) About twenty years ago, as a new believer reading through the Bible for the first time, I came across a passage that puzzled me. Leviticus 25 speaks of the Year of Jubilee, with each person […]
The sword of the Spirit should be used with care. Preaching the Word is serious business. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the Word … For the time will come when they will not endure […]
Things God has prepared for His Son First Corinthians 2:9 declares: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” This is a lofty promise of unimaginable blessing that God has prepared for His children. In order to […]
A question for dark days. He was a dying man. He had been strong and vigorous, a hard worker, always providing for his family. He had come to know the Lord while he was young, had grown in the Lord, had married, and had raised a family. Because of his faithfulness, he had eventually been […]
“The Lord hath need of them” (Mt. 21:3). What an amazing statement! The One who made this statement is the same One who said, “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 50:12). This is the same One who said, “Let there be light: […]
Lessons from the life and times of Ezra the scribe. In 1994, new teacher Erin Gruwell arrived at her Long Beach high-school and was immediately challenged by the racial turmoil within her diverse classroom. Her first strategy was to lecture her students on the wages of Nazi politics in Europe half a century earlier, which […]
The tests for reliability where it matters most. There is an interesting phenomenon in our culture—we are fascinated by crime stories. For years, many of the top-rated programs on television have been criminal dramas. Check out the Nielsen Ratings that measure program viewership and you’ll see what I mean. Consider NBC’s Law & Order franchise. […]
The “facts” need to be brought into focus. Science has many secrets. Not deep, dark, conspiratorial secrets, but practical secrets that are well-known to trained scientists yet not often revealed to the public, and for good reason. Scientists like to project an aura of authority and calm, unbiased rationality, which might be in jeopardy if […]
A fool is a person whose plans end at the grave. “Be prepared!” Sound familiar? Those words are the Boy Scout motto. They are also good, simple advice for people in all walks of life. What happens if a student is not prepared for his exams, or if a mother is not prepared to feed […]