“He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has,” once observed the 19th-century American minister Henry Ward Beecher.
His quote is reminiscent of a line from a more recent preacher who said, “We are rich in the things that perish, but poor in the things of the spirit. We are rich in gadgets, but poor in faith. We are rich in goods, but poor in grace. We are rich in know-how, but poor in character. We are rich in words, but poor in deeds.” Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Can 2,000-year-old seeds still produce?
Israeli physician Sarah Sallon believed they could.
Ancient date palm seeds had been recovered from archaeological sites near the Dead Sea. Although the trees themselves had disappeared nearly 2,000 years ago, Sallon persuaded skeptical archaeologists to let her plant some of those ancient seeds. Many thought the idea was impossible. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
In his book The Me I Want to Be, John Ortberg tells about the first time he and his wife went fly fishing.
Their guide explained, “To catch a fish, you have to think like a fish.” To a fish, life is about the maximum gratification of appetite with the minimum expenditure of energy. Fish don’t stop to reflect on danger or recognize the lure hiding a deadly hook. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
That’s awesome!” the waitress said as I ordered my meal.
“It’s that good?” I replied skeptically.
“It’s awesome!” she repeated. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
If you Google “something is wrong with the church,” you’ll get millions of results in a matter of seconds.
A quick perusal of the articles reveals a familiar theme.
“5 Stupid Things the Church Needs to Quit Doing.”
“Anatomy of a Sick Church: 10 Symptoms to Watch.”
“7 Things We Get Wrong About Worship.” Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Imagine flying at 10,000 feet through thick clouds with no visible horizon. The pilot looks outside, but there is nothing to see. His senses tell him the plane is flying straight, but his instruments reveal that he is slowly descending and turning. The question is: Which will he trust—his feelings or his instruments? Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Yesterday morning, I received a complimentary email from one of our readers, who’s also a friend of mine, regarding our ministry with this blog.
In addition to her kind words, she shared that reading our posts helped her reflect on her life and the areas she needed to work on. Furthermore, she spoke of how it strengthened her spiritually. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
A father asked his son, “If three frogs were sitting on a limb that hung over a pond, and one frog decided to jump, how many frogs would be left?”
The little boy grinned and said, “That’s easy, Dad. Two.” Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
In his book, Water from a Deep Well, Theology Professor Gerald Sittser suggests that many modern Christians suffer from spiritual shallowness because they only draw from contemporary sources. The past, he argues, provides deep nourishment for faith and discipleship.
Sittser then offers this observation and indictment of modern Christianity: Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder, Psalms
The word glory and its related forms appear hundreds of times in Scripture. Often, they are connected to the glory of God, the greatness of His name, and the praise He deserves.
In the Old Testament, God’s glory filled the tabernacle, the temple, and even the whole earth. Today, we are His temple — His people — called to glorify Him with our lives and with our words.
The Psalmist declared, “Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day” (Psalm 71:8). Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
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