Can you imagine being on the mountain when Jesus “was transfigured” and “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  And…Moses and Elijah appeared…talking with Him…and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud” (Matt. 17:1-5)?  What an experience that must have been for Peter, James and John – the only mortals on that mountain…

Jesus’ half-brother, Jude, wrote a short but stirring letter, “exhorting [his readers] to contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3).  Every word in the Bible is significant, even the small words that we might sometimes treat as insignificant (like “the”).  Suppose Jude had written to “contend earnestly for faith” – would that have made a difference? The Muslim terrorists who killed 3,000…

The actions of Paul and Silas at the end of Acts 16 have always amazed me.  For casting a demon out of a certain slave girl, Paul and Silas were beaten with many stripes (with rods) and were thrown into the inner prison of that Philippian jail, with their feet fastened in the stocks (16:22-24).  They must have been in extreme pain,…

Jonah fled in the opposite direction from God’s clear instructions to “go to Nineveh” (1:2).  He foolishly exclaimed in the last chapter, “For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil” (4:2, ASV).  Jonah knew that God’s abundant lovingkindness would lead Him to turn (i.e., repent) from…

I want you to read John chapter 8 and see how Jesus repeatedly used, during this interchange, the words “word(s)” and “truth.”  Look at these verses.  “As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  Then Jesus said…‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’…you seek…

How would you finish this prediction – “the earth will be filled with…”?  How do you think the Bible completed such a prediction?  Note this is a prediction, not a statement of fact.  The fact is “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord” (Psa. 33:5), His “mercy” (Psa. 119:64) and “His glory” (Isa. 6:3).  But what is the prediction? …

There is nothing secondary about the religion of Christ.  Everything is of primary (first!) importance!  Think about how this is emphasized throughout the New Testament. Jesus “rose early on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:9; Matt. 28:1).  He appeared to His disciples on “the first day of the week” (John 20:19, 26).  The early church assembled on “the first day…

There is a really neat section in the book of Galatians that presents the great blessing a Christian has in being a “son” of God.  In chapter 3, verse 26, Paul starts using the second person pronoun “you,” to make it very personal for his Christian readers.  “You are all sons of God through faith…And…heirs according to the promise” (3:26-29).  “God sent…