What do you envision when you think of the concept or illustration of “power”? Although this word has many nuances, for this week at least, let us consider it in the context of ‘being able to act or to produce and effect’. There are many word pictures that come to mind when I think of...
This time we will work through Acts 8 as we read of the continuing assault upon the early church by those desiring to destroy her, and we will see how God uses that which appears “bad” and yet sovereignly turns it for “good”. We will also see how certain qualities of an object or subject...
I could cite a bunch of statistics for you about how persecuted believers are around the world (more people died for faith in Christ in the 20th century than all other centuries combined), or how people in the United States are actually becoming more religious, but less Christian (true story, by the way- we are...
In a review of my prayer journal, it is easy to see how often the Lord uses hard and difficult things to teach, equip, and correct me. I suspect that all of us would rather avoid these potentially “painful” situations and circumstances, but in reality we will usually learn more about ourselves, others, and our...
I have learned from both positive and negative experiences in my life that certain actions, habits, and decisions are generally accompanied by certain results. For example, if you desire to lose weight, sitting in front of the T.V. binge watching “The Office” and eating Tostito chips will likely not bring the result desired. Or if...
Knowing the value of something will affect our care and responsibility towards the object. With the recent opening of pheasant season, I am always drawn back to the fond memory of my first shotgun purchase. How I recall as a 12-year-old boy who mowed yards and picked rocks to save up for an Ithaca 12...
Have you ever day-dreamed about “rocking the house?” Meaning, according to current slang, “to elicit an enthusiastic response from an audience that one is performing for.” You know, being that guy that scores the winning touchdown after a spectacular 47 yard run, or wins the state championship basketball title with a 3 point buzzer beater,...
We do not have to look too far in our culture today to find people struggling with an absence of hope. All we need to do is open a newspaper, watch the news, look at internet news feeds or speak to family and friends to see that hope is in short supply. In fact, we...
Evidences or proofs surround us, all pointing to a truth that we may or may not want to acknowledge. For instance, if I run out of clean dress shirts in the closet, this is evidence that there are 97 of them to iron, and I need to get busy because Gloria is a great washer...
What makes something “great”? Of course it depends on the “something”, your standards of evaluation, and your audience, but I don’t believe it to be a stretch to say that when you talk to folks versed in a particular area, there would be a relative consistency in their answers. For example, if you were to...
