When the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, he wrote to a congregation that needed to get back on track. There was division, false teaching and sexual immorality. They needed to get centered and focused. Many of us are like that. It seems that we are prone to “major in minors” and to forget the most important things. It is…

There is a sign in front of you. On it are seven concentric circles. Each circle slightly smaller than the next and evenly layered in descending order to the centermost circle labeled “you.” This sign represents the people in your life and their level of importance to you. The “you” in the center is not the you in the mirror or the…

It is clear that the Hebrew people had a different system of worship than what we are commanded to have. At the heart of that system is the Levitical priest. When Moses writes Deuteronomy, he summarizes the service of the Levites, “At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord,…

It was the habit of President Abraham Lincoln to cheer wounded soldiers in the hospitals by visiting them. The story goes that while visiting one young union soldier who was very near death, he asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” The boy replied, “Can you write a letter for me?”—not knowing he was speaking to the President of the…

They are out here, lurking in unsuspecting places. They could be anybody—a boss, a coworker, a family member or any random person with whom you cross paths. Before you know it, you have encountered a difficult person. You are often times left wondering, “What was that person’s problem?” or “How could I have handled that situation better?” Before your next encounter with…

The story is told of a man who liked to just open his Bible and read the first verse that came to him as though it were a message of God directly to him. The first verse he happened to turn to was Matthew 27:5, which says Judas “went away and hanged himself.” Since he was not sure how this verse applied…

A man comes walking through a small hamlet that has been hit with the plague. He pushes a cart full of the dead and cries, “Bring out your dead!” As he passes one house, a young man comes out dragging an old man, feeble and pale, and starts to put him on the cart. The old man protests, “But I’m not quite…

The concept of being a refugee would be hard for most of us to understand. Many of us have grown up in relative safety and security. The very idea that we would have to flee our homes, cities or country to protect our lives and those of our loved ones is hard for us to even imagine. Yet, all over the world…