In the kitchen, stirring is necessary. In the paint shop, stirring is necessary. But, in our relationships and interactions with others, we need to be oh-so careful when we stir and when we don’t. There are times to stir the right way, like “stirring up love and good works” (Heb. 10:24) and “stirring up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13; 3:1). But, more often than…

Before I heard it from Chick-fil-A, I heard a friend saying it years ago. Anytime that they would help us or do something nice for us and we told them, “Thank you,” this friend would always say, “Our pleasure.” For some reason, that always struck me when he said it. He didn’t say, “Sure,” or “No biggie,” or “You’re welcome,” or “No problem,” or any…

We all understand the concept of deposits into and withdraws out of our bank account. We understand that we must deposit more money into our account than we withdraw, lest our account is overdrawn, we have a negative balance, and we are penalized or cut off entirely. In his book, His Needs, Her Needs, Willard Harley introduced the concept that you have a “Love…

When certain Jews became Christians in the first century, they brought with them a self-generated arrogance, thinking that they were better Christians because they boasted in their circumcision, their fastings, their denial of certain meats, etc., etc. To these Christians Paul wrote, “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:26).  Think about that statement for twenty-first century Christians. Is…

The only two words some folks know in Matthew 7 are “Judge not.” And they act like there is a period or exclamation point after the word “not.” They could not be further from the truth. Certainly, Jesus says, “Judge not,” but following the comma He goes on to say, “…that you be not judged” (Matt. 7:1). Jesus is not teaching that it is…

When Jesus came to be baptized of John, He said, “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). The Greek word for “fitting” is prepo, which indicates that something is “becoming, suitable, proper, seemly.” Take that word and see it other times in the New Testament. Regarding Jesus, it was “fitting” (becoming, suitable, proper, seemly) for Him to be made “the…

James B. Coats wrote a hymn in 1940 that expresses the heart of every faithful Christian. Here we are, “Living below in this old sinful world,” and “striving alone to face temptations sore.” And, while “life here is grand with friends I love so dear,” it is not an easy life. So, as a Christian, whether I am facing life’s difficulties, Satan’s temptations or “the…

Family trees. Have you ever checked to see who you’re connected to? That used to be a lot harder of a task than it is these days. With the internet, all sorts of connections can be found now. Have you ever done an ancestry search that requires you to send off a blood sample to test your DNA? Guess what I found. I’ve done some digging into…