November 14, 2022
Thanksgiving in All Circumstances
This time of year is always festive. Spirits seem a little brighter and thanksgiving flows freely in our hearts. Or does it?
Articles for tag: Forgiveness
November 1, 2022
Baptism and Thankfulness: 4 Reasons They Are Inextricably Connected
By Dudley Rutherford Ever since I was a small boy, I have lived to honor my earthly father. Even though my dad died in March 2020, I try to honor him daily. God must have put it in my heart to have such love and respect for my earthly father that I wanted to please and honor him every day. I don’t claim to be perfect like Jesus, but our Lord also strove every day to honor and please his Father. When Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River at Bethany in the Judean desert, God said, “This is
October 10, 2022
Paul at the Table
(We first ran this Communion meditation in January 2014.) By Ronald G. Davis Paul wrote beautifully and authoritatively of the Lord’s table. But he also sat there. Right across from us, as it were. Was he worthy? Are we? Both he and we are worthy in the gracious eyes of the Lord who invited us here. Paul certainly had sins when he sat here. His tears of repentance were not for imagined occasions he “missed the mark” of God’s righteousness. No doubt, there were occasions at the table he thought about Stephen, the young evangelist, at whose stoning death he
September 1, 2022
The Struggle with Identity
By Jerry Harris Identity is a major topic in American culture today. What do I identify as? Who do I identify with? There are hot debates about race, gender, sexual orientation, victimization, and how we see ourselves and the world around us. The words we use or the words we are discouraged from using are all tied up in identity. The American Medical Association just recommended that we not put gender on our birth certificates. An AMA report said, “Imposing such a categorization system risks stifling self-expression and self-identification and contributes to marginalization and minoritization.” Some doctors are recommending replacing
September 1, 2022
Who Are You?
How to Respond When the World Tries to Dismantle Your God-Given Identity By Wes Beavis “I hear voices inside my head.” This statement raises the sensitivities of a clinical psychologist. Hearing internal voices can be a sign of schizophrenia, which can drive people into homelessness. But schizophrenia is not just limited to the down and out. John Nash, a brilliant mathematician, would carry on conversations with people inside his head. His story was made into a movie called A Beautiful Mind. Despite suffering from schizophrenia, Nash’s intellectual capacity and achievements led to him being awarded a Nobel Memorial Prize in
In Times of Darkness
The Lord’s Supper was instituted in a time of darkness. And, so, when we are going through dark times of our own, we can partake of Communion and remember Jesus, and what his sacrifice means for us.
June 20, 2022
Boasting in Our Weaknesses
By Michael C. Mack As the apostle Paul told his story, he wrote, But [the Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9). Most of us are good at boasting about our strengths: our natural abilities, our giftedness, and the talents we have worked hard to develop. We have physical strengths, intellectual capacities, emotional competence, relational aptitudes, and spiritual giftedness. There are even assessments that measure our strengths.
June 9, 2022
Why Doesn’t God Stop School Shootings?
A tragic event like the unthinkable massacre of schoolchildren generates an understandable emotional response. The faith community often responds with the words “thoughts and prayers,” which incenses secularists who consider them to be “do-nothing” sentiments. But God uses the thoughts, prayers, and actions of dedicated Christ followers to change troubled young men into godly leaders. I know, because he used them to change me.
May 2, 2022
Near the Cross
By Victor Knowles “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother . . .” (John 19:25). Today is Mother’s Day. It is also the Lord’s Day. In this verse are three images: the cross, Jesus, and the mother of Jesus. Mary is positioned where we should be—“near the cross.” The Lord’s Supper does something both wonderful and horrible for us. It brings us “near the cross.” The Lord’s table becomes Mount Calvary. The bread and cup become the beams of the cross. There is wonder and horror at the cross. The wonder comes from the wonder of God’s love for
April 25, 2022
Indispensability
By Doug Redford As the 20th century was ending, numerous attempts were made to select the “person of the century.” Time magazine suggested Albert Einstein. A good case certainly could be made for Einstein; he was likely the most brilliant mind of the century. The late columnist Charles Krauthammer’s nomination was Winston Churchill. Krauthammer made a very strong argument on Churchill’s behalf. At the tail end of 1999, Krauthammer wrote, Take away Churchill in 1940, and Britain would have settled with Hitler—or worse, Nazism would have prevailed. . . . Civilization would have descended into a darkness the likes of
April 11, 2022
April 17 | Perfect Love
“Holy Week,” as it is called, is a demonstration of perfect love. Even while enduring the cross, sustaining the solemnity of the tomb and experiencing the victory of the resurrection, Jesus continued to love and serve others.
April 4, 2022
April 10 | Application
They appeared to have nothing in common at all. People treated him like gold and they treated her like dirt . . .
March 17, 2022
The Power of Unity: A Call to Shift from Enemies to Allies
Have we as Christians—conservative and liberal, independent and denominational, etc.—forgotten that we are not each other’s enemies . . . that we all have a common enemy in Satan?
March 7, 2022
Different from the Herd
By Stuart Powell There is nothing strange about a herd of cattle in the farmland of Indiana. However, one herd contained a single member who stood out among the many. Amid the collection of four-legged bovine grazed a two-legged, feathered, web-footed, white goose. Nothing could hide the differences between the bird and the other grazing animals. Christians are called to be like that goose in the world. Just as a goose doesn’t belong in a herd of cattle, followers of Jesus don’t fit in with the ideas and priorities of worldly people. God expects us to intermingle with the rest
March 1, 2022
Authentic Messiah
By Jerry Harris Belief has incredible power, doesn’t it? And to think, in some ways, we believe the same story of the Messiah the people of Israel have believed for thousands of years. It is quite revealing. Christ is a Greek term translated from the Hebrew word Messiah, and it’s more a title than anything else. It came from a compilation of Old Testament Scriptures like Deuteronomy 18:18. It means “anointed,” and it was reserved for prophets, priests, and kings. But this one person, this “super” person, would be all three. The Jews placed all their hopes and dreams in
February 21, 2022
The Undiscovered Country
Exploration of the unknown was a common theme in Gene Roddenberry’s fictitious Star Trek stories. Roddenberry sought to avoid spiritual truths, yet there are many lessons for Christians embedded in those futuristic fables. . . .
January 24, 2022
His Face
Since God sent Jesus “when the set time had fully come” (Galatians 4:4), we must conclude it is God’s will that we worship the person of Jesus instead of the image of Jesus.
January 3, 2022
Jan. 9 | Application
In Romans 1, the apostle Paul lowers the hammer of God’s righteous wrath on Gentile sinners. Then in Romans 2, Paul pivots toward his Jewish readers . . .
November 15, 2021
Thanksgiving
This Last Supper was a family meal, much like our own Thanksgiving around the dinner table.
November 1, 2021
Battlefield Communion
By Stuart Powell Early in World War I the British army made an amphibious landing at Suvla Bay in what is now western Turkey. The invasion was part of the August Offensive of 1915, the final attempt to break the deadlock of the Battle of Gallipoli. There are numerous descriptions of the Allied forces landing in their battle against German and Ottoman defenders. Among those who landed was a soldier named William Henry Littlejohn. Sargent Littlejohn survived the landing, the months-long stalemate, and the Allies’ withdrawal in December 1915, but he did not survive the war. The company sergeant major
