Jesus’ words in the parable of the ten virgins have a great application in the way we live our lives. Those virgins who failed to bring enough oil for their lamps found themselves unprepared for the arrival of the bridegroom. When he came, the wedding celebration began, and they were not included. His words? “And the door was shut” (Matt. 25:10). The…

The events which followed the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel are recorded in the seventeenth chapter of Second Kings. The Assyrians moved many of the Jews, who were part of Israel, and sent them throughout the Assyrian world. Then, they brought men from other nations and settled them in Israel. This was an attempt, largely successful, to destroy the ethnicity…

The prophet Isaiah gives us a picture of what Jesus looked like which is far different from that which is presented by artists or portrayed in movies. “When we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa. 53:2). There was nothing physically attractive about Him, but those who truly saw Him found another kind of beauty which…

“I will never forget the first time I saw him. It was love at first sight. He had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, and then when I looked into his eyes—they were beyond beautiful.” Words like this are sometimes part of conversations in our land, but one thing you will never hear. “He had the most beautiful feet I…

The watchword in our society that permeates so many aspects of life is acceptance. The values of any single member of society is equal to the values of any other single individual. There is no single answer to any question that is actually right, so every person defines “truth” based on their own experiences. As an illustration of this, look at our…

For there to be meaningful conversations, both the speaker and the listener must use the same definition of words as they speak. If this does not happen confusion will always be the result. An illustration of this involves the time Gene Puckett and I were talking. I suggested to Gene, since he knew Noah built the ark out of gopher wood, that…

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall be raised.” Are there any words more comforting than these? We sing about it, and our hearts are filled with comfort. If there is no resurrection, we are of all men most miserable; our lives have been wasted, and we should have lived our lives by the philosophy of “let us eat drink and…

When we think of Jesus’ words about gaining the whole world at the expense of losing our souls (Matt. 16:26), we rightly turn our attention toward ourselves and the value of our own soul individually. One important truth which comes from   looking more deeply into this passage should lead us to see the value of the lost souls of those around us.…