I really want to be more like Christ than I am. I want to pray, love and forgive more like He does. But the change I see in my life seems infinitesimal and on some days nonexistent. But what I need to understand is that my efforts to change my life are for naught. I…
Love God, Serve Others, Tell the Story
“Lord, I know that You want me to be a better person. I know that You long for me to imitate Jesus in all that I am and in all that I do and say. But Lord, I just can’t. There are too many shortcomings in my life. I’m not good enough, strong enough or…
We have allowed the Pharisees and teachers of the law convince to us that Christianity needed to be something religious. We decided that we needed to have the right rules and the right organization to be the right “church.” And when we have done everything the way we think it should be, then we feel…
If we are not careful, we can look at all of the news around us and develop a negative, demoralized outlook of the future of our nation and of the world. Economic, militaristic, moral and relational difficulties invariably receive primetime coverage on news, talk shows and other forms of media and personal discussion. But we…
In his treatise on the joyous character of Christ, Are You Fun to Live With? (1968), Lionel Whiston described our Lord thusly: “Wherever He went, Jesus radiated confidence” (p.32). Jesus was fun to live with. He was invited to weddings and even to the homes of Pharisees on one extreme and tax collectors on the…
“Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him.” – Mahatma Gandhi We try so hard to prove that Jesus is the Christ, so others will choose to surrender their lives to this wonderful Savior. We use the wonder of fulfilled prophecy to show that the probability of hundreds of…
We are all aware of the religious diversity within Christendom that accompanies the message of salvation. While all churches agree that we are saved by grace through faith without the benefit of any affect from ‘meritorious works.’ Indeed, all of our righteous deeds piled up together would be of no more worth than ‘filthy rags’…
Early on the Sabbath day, Judas, with pangs of conscience convicting him of selling the Son of God for a month’s wages, comes with his ‘blood money’ to return it, in some mistaken hope that he can fix his own guilt problem. Equally guilty ‘chief priests and elders’ reply with the most uncaring words found…
In scripture, the body of Christ is referred to as ‘the church of God,’ ‘the churches of Christ,’ ‘the way,’ ‘the bride of Christ’ and many other names. And by practice, we are ‘catholic’ when we see the church as universal. We are ‘baptist’ as we immerse believers into Christ. We are ‘presbyterian’ at least…
The world around us is trying to convince believers that we have been foolish and naïve. The very idea of believing that Jesus was and is God who walked on water, immediately stilled storms and raised the dead after four days of putrification is seemingly devoid of logic. But we believe. We have been convinced…