In times of grief, from whence cometh our comfort?  In times of despair, from whence cometh our comfort?  In times of sadness, from whence cometh our comfort?  Paul wrote that “the God of…comfort” comforts “through the…comfort of the Scriptures” (Rom. 15:4-5).  Paul is not the only one to teach this. The great treatise exalting God’s Word, found in Psalm 119, makes repeated…

A frequent flyer died in his sleep one night and somehow found himself standing in line at the pearly gate.  When he reached the front of the line, he was asked only one question, “What did you do with your soul?”  A little perplexed by such an obvious answer, the frequent flyer responded, “I took my shoes off back there like I…

There is a verse that we probably know and maybe even can quote, but we must ask ourselves how we’re doing in obeying it.  Reflect slowly and soberly on these words from James 1:27— “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Notice…

When homes were in areas where springs were scarce and summers tended to be long and dry, cisterns were commonly used in Bible times to collect rain water and store water for a family’s use.  But, cisterns did not last forever (eventually drying out and breaking), and instead of being used for water storage, broken cisterns were sometimes used as make-shift prison…

In Acts 7, Stephen was not afraid to tell the Jews exactly what they needed to hear, even if they didn’t want to hear it.  The Jews, who “were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (Acts 6:10), had “set up false witnesses” against him (6:13).  Does that remind you of Jesus?  That’s not the only…

Have you ever made a mistake (a genuine mistake) that cost you dearly?  Perhaps, although you were trying to be careful, you entered a number incorrectly on your taxes and you got audited.  Perhaps, without thinking, you rolled through a stop sign, without coming to a complete stop, and got slapped with a fine.  Perhaps you inadvertently clicked on the wrong item…

While staring at a 10-inch long black, red and yellow ringed snake, I was trying to remember that little poem.  “Black on yellow, silly fellow?  Yellow on black, take a step back?  Yellow on red, you’re dead?”  I knew there was some little rhyme, but I could not confidently remember in which order to put the colors or what rhyming-combinations went together. …

A young adult male was waiting on customers at the bookstore café.  A group of young, attractive females came in and, one by one, ordered some pastries and drinks.  He gave each one of them his undivided attention, cheerfully greeting them, pleasantly joking with them, apparently flirting with them.  Walking in later and waiting at the back of the line were two…