The God of heaven is most definitely a God of love.  His very nature is repeatedly characterized in Scripture as “love” (read especially 1 John 4:7-5:5).  His love prompted Him to send His Son to bear our sins and die in our stead (1 John 3:16; 4:9-10).  His love longs for every one of His human creations to “be saved and to…

I want to define something from the very beginning. The church mentioned in the title is more than just your local congregation. When we talk about the church, we need to keep the entire kingdom of God in view also. Understanding our place in relation to the kingdom goes beyond the individual, the family and the local congregation. The individual parts are…

Sometimes, we sing a song in which we ask God to take us to His door and pierce our ear. We finish by telling Him that we never want to be a free man. What could this possibly mean? It is imperative that we “sing with the spirit and the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15), but what is your understanding about what you…

There are so many different Bibles available today.  Do you have one of those “baby Bibles”?  The one that is light blue or pink or white and is small enough to fit into a baby’s hand.  Those are precious and are a great way for young children to learn to love the Bible.  Do you have one of those pocket-sized or checkbook-sized…

There is a famous movie where a villainous character uses the word inconceivable, a lot. On one of those occasions, one of his hired men says, “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.” I believe the same is true for judge, or more specifically the phrase, “Don’t judge.” It usually happens when someone does…

Moses stood before the burning bush with his feet unshod and God said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). He was sending Moses to accomplish His eternal plan for Israel, and Moses needed to be reminded of the nature of God. It was imperative that Moses…

When asked the question, “How does one decide whether the language of the Bible is to be taken literally or figuratively?” the simple answer is that throughout the world in every language we take what is said literally. The exceptions to this rule would be when the speaker often uses nonliteral language or when taking the words literally twists or distorts what…

In the wake of recent persecutions and executions of people for their faith, Christians around the globe are examining themselves.  They are wondering, “Is that going to come to my country, to my city, to my neighborhood?”  They are asking themselves, “Is it possible that I might face something similar in the not-too-distant future?”  They are contemplating, “What will I do if…