Auschwitz and the surrounding camps were liberated by the Soviet Army in Nazi controlled Poland on January 27, 1945. There were only 7,600 people still there when the Red army arrived. 58,000 men and women had been lead away on a death march in an effort to conceal the magnitude of their crimes. They were marched by the Nazi SS soldiers to…

As Jesus began teaching, He went to a mountaintop and with His disciples around Him, He startled those who heard Him by the way He preached. “When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29). So much of what He taught was so…

Two cars approach one another, going opposite directions on a well-lit, single lane street.  There is a solid wall on the right and a solid wall on the left.  There is no other direction to go.  Who must yield the right of way?  Would it help to know that it is a one-way street?  Now, which one must yield? This is not…

You have seen them.  These are the “Jesus is my co-pilot” bumper sticker Christians. The ones that just “feel” like they know what God wants for their lives. The ones that are “called by God” to make a ministry out of every obscure verb or concept.  The ones that say they are praying for you but are never around when life gets…

The church at Thessalonica had a very special place in the heart of Paul. He arrived in that city from his prison experience in Philippi, and, as his custom was, he entered the synagogue to tell them about the risen Christ. Many of the Gentiles who were part of the synagogue audience became believers. However, the popular reception of the gospel was…

It is not easy being different.  The story of “The Ugly Duckling” taught us that.  When someone is of different race or a different gender than “everybody else in the room,” he might feel a bit uneasy.  It is certainly easier to “blend in” sometimes than it is to “stand out.” Christians sometimes may feel like they are always the ones standing…

“In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland—starving and outnumbered—charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets; they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom.” This last line in the movie Braveheart brought to life the concept of the warrior poet. Throughout history, we can see this genre of the warrior cast played out, from the warriors of…

One of the unseen blessings of memorizing Scripture is that doing this opens the door to our souls. Solomon showed this when he said that a man is what he thinks in his heart (Prov. 23:7). What is perhaps even more remarkable is that what we memorized when we were children is so much a part of what we are today. We…