“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile,” once quipped Billy Sunday, the baseball player turned preacher.
As a result of seeing so many professed Christians going to church, but not living out their profession in their daily lives, some have supposed that religion is a bad thing. “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual,” has become a popular and oft-repeated mantra of many today. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
“There are two ways in which a Christian may view his money,” opined Bible expositor and author W. Graham Scroggie. How much of my money shall I use for God?” or “How much of God’s money shall I use for myself?”
Scroggie’s observation reminds us of Jehovah’s statement through the prophet Haggai, “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine” (2:8) Indeed, as the Psalmist penned, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Ps 24:1). Continue reading
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John Wesley was about 21 years of age when he went to Oxford University. He came from a good home, was gifted with a keen mind and good looks. It’s said, however, he was a bit snobbish and sarcastic.
The devotional, Our Daily Bread, relates an incident that set in motion a change in Wesley’s heart. Continue reading
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Victor was born in the barrio of Carlsbad, California in 1940. Like his Mexican parents, he only spoke Spanish. In addition to the language barrier, Victor faced cultural challenges, when he began school, as well as blatant discrimination and a reading problem, later diagnosed as dyslexia.
In his Junior year, Victor quit school, moved back to Mexico, and worked for 10 years as a common labor, digging ditches and cleaning houses. During that time he met a compassionate young woman who taught him to read, which fueled his desire to be a writer. Continue reading
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Little Ethan had a habit of “stretching the truth.”
One day, while walking home from school, he saw a large black dog run across the street right in front of him. He rushed home as fast as he could and hollered, “Mom! You’re never going to believe what I just saw!”
“What did you see Ethan?” His mother cautiously asked. Continue reading
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There’s a painting called “Checkmate” painted by Friedrich August Moritz Retzsch, that used to hang in the Louvre Art Museum in Paris.
The painting depicts a chess match between the devil and Goethe’s Dr. Faust, who had sold his soul to the devil. It appears as if the devil has won. Faust has only the king, the queen, and a weak pawn left. The look on Faust’s face is one of abject despair. From across the chessboard, the devil leers at him in anticipation of his expected victory. Ready to say, Checkmate! Continue reading
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A Texas preacher, David Dykes, claims this is a true story, with the names changed to protect the innocent.
Little Tommy attended first grade Sunday School faithfully. He loved his teacher, Mrs. Smith. She told great Bible stories and would always end the story by saying, “And, boys and girls, the MORAL of the story is …” Little Tommy enjoyed learning about the morals of each Bible story. Continue reading
Filed under Parables of Jesus, Passage To Ponder
Ray Stedman, in his book Authentic Christianity, tells a story about a man who was an alcoholic but accepted Christ and became a believer,
A friend who heard of his conversion questioned him about how he could believe all that “nonsense” in the Bible about miracles. “You don’t believe that Jesus changed the water into wine, do you?” Continue reading
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Matthew 3 is an extraordinary chapter. Following 400 years of prophetic silence, God sent a man named John to stir the hearts of his people and point them to the promised Messiah.
Matthew’s narrative concerning the coming of Christ, the work of His forerunner, John the Baptist, and the state of the religious leaders, remind us how relevant the Word is to our culture and needs. Continue reading
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Our time in the mountains reminded me of a story about a man named Jack who was walking along a steep cliff one day. He accidentally got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the canyon dropped straight down for more than a thousand feet.
He couldn’t hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear and rescue him.
“HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there?” Continue reading
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