Blog Archive

Over the last couple of months, I have been sharing with you about disciples—people “learning Jesus” who are devoted and growing followers of Jesus Christ. I want to share a few more identifying marks of disciples.

Last month I shared with you that disciples are people who “are learning Jesus,” people whose desire is to become more like Jesus, to be conformed to His image. There are a number of identifying marks of genuine disciples. I want to share three of them…

Before Jesus returned to His Father in Heaven, He gave His followers and the Church some clear “marching orders.” They are found in the words of what is known as the Great Commission. It is found in some form in each of the four Gospels and the book of Acts.

There are some important people in church history with whom we need to be acquainted. One of them is William Tyndale. Without him we likely would not have the Bible in the English language as we do today. When Tyndale came on the scene, 16th century…

As we move into the New Year, there are a lot of things that are uncertain. We don’t know whether we will enjoy good health. We don’t know whether the economy is going to improve or whether inflation will continue to plague us. We don’t know whether life…

I had a professor in Bible College who encouraged us to keep a hymnal close by our Bibles. Only the Bible is the inspired Word of God, however, there are a lot of great hymns that teach us good theology. I think when it comes to Christmas carols (hymns), we…

This month I want to share one last question from Donald Whitney’s book, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. The question is: “Do you yearn for Heaven and to be with Jesus?” If you have ever been on a long trip in which you have from home for a…

Over the course of this year, I have been sharing some questions with you from a book written by Donald Whitney to help diagnose our spiritual health. The question this month is: “Are you quick to forgive?” Forgiveness is a great theme of Scripture (the Bible).

I would like to share another question to help you diagnose your spiritual health from the book, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, by Donald Whitney. The question is: “Do you still grieve over sin?” We live in a world which takes sin lightly.

I want to share yet another question from Donald Whitney’s book, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health, to help diagnose your spiritual health. The question I would have you consider is: “Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?”

I have been sharing some questions with you over the last few months to help diagnose your spiritual health. These questions come from a book written by Donald Whitney entitled, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. The question I want to share…

According to Jesus, one of the identifying marks of a genuine believer is love. He said in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you should also love one another…”

Regular checkups are important to both physical and spiritual health. One way to diagnose our health is by asking ourselves some questions. I am sharing some questions found in a book entitled, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health by Donald Whitney.

If you go to the doctor for regular checkups, s/he will usually ask you a variety of questions in order to help diagnose your health. Our spiritual health is even more important than our physical health. One way of diagnosing our spiritual health is to…

I thought I would pause in my articles about parts of the body to share with you something related to Christmas this month. One of my favorite Christmas texts is the words of the angel of the Lord to the shepherds on the first Christmas morning.

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of yet another year. What are your expectations for the year ahead? If you listen to the news, it is hard to be optimistic. Rather than listen to the news, I would encourage you to read God’s Word.

Over the last few months, we have been considering some different parts of our bodies. This month I want to share with you about our feet. Our feet enable us to move from place to place. They also help us to stand, walk and run.

Reader’s Digest once did a series of articles on parts of the body. Each article began with the words, “I am Joe’s…” followed by a body part. The article then went on to explain how the body part functioned. For a few months, I am sharing with you about what the Bible…

When was the last time you had a check-up on your heart? Not a physical examination, but spiritual. Physical heart disease is a serious matter, but spiritual heart disease even more so. How can you combat your heart from becoming spiritually diseased?

Evidence of God as the Creator lies within all of nature. From the black and white tuxedo of a penguin to the vibrant green leaves of a tree to the melodic pitch to a bird, God's creative nature can be found everywhere.

I find great encouragement in the words of hymns. I try every day to read the words of a hymn from our hymnbook. I am currently at page 580, so I have been at it for a while. One of the things that has been to me in doing this is that I run into songs with which I am...

What special days come to your mind when you think of the month of May? You may think quickly of Mother’s Day or Memorial Day. I would suggest there is another day which is very important in the month of May—the National Day of Prayer.

Last month I shared with you some principles for prayer found in Jesus’ teaching on prayer in His Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 6:5-18. This month, I want to share a pattern that Jesus gave us. I don’t think what Jesus had in mind is that we would…

One of our greatest responsibilities as Christians is prayer. God talks to us through His Word, and we talk to Him through prayer. We know how important prayer is, but we find it difficult to find time in the midst of busy schedules to pray.

I think I have shared this before, but my son keeps me supplied with challenging reading material. For Christmas a couple years ago, he gave me a book with an unusual title, "Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament.

The past couple years turned out to be more than we could have imagined! Who would have ever dreamed our church would be shut down for 11 Sundays? Who would have believed handshakes and hugs would become taboo? Who would have believed…

Around 700 years before Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah shared some prophetic words about Jesus. Those words include some specific names which help us better understand the Savior and His mission. Isaiah 9:6-7 say, “For a child will be born to us…

As I write these words, it is looking like Thanksgiving plans for this year may be different due to the covid virus. This brought to mind a great Thanksgiving hymn; it may be one I have shared with you about it before, but it would be appropriate to remind you of it again.

We come this month to the last of the Beatitudes, statements in Matthew 5:1-12 that begin with the word “blessed” and end with a promise. Let me remind you one more time that you don’t gain salvation by living out the Beatitudes. Rather, living out the Beatitudes is…

For several months now, we have been looking at the Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12. This month we move on to the seventh beatitude found in Matthew 5:9. It reads, “Blessed are the peacemeakers for they shall be called the sons of God.”

Recently we have been looking at the Beatitudes—brief statements made by Jesus beginning with the word, “blessed,” and ending with a promise. This month we come to the sixth beatitude found in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure…”

We have been considering the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12. The Beatitudes are brief statements made by Jesus beginning with the word, “blessed,” and ending with a promise. The Beatitudes do not tell us how to become a Christian, but rather what…

We are presently living in what we might refer to as a “me-first” culture. The predominant questions in the minds of many people are: “What’s in it for me?” “How will it impact me?” “How will I be served?” There is another statement which contradicts the prevailing…