“In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic [...]
“These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” -Acts 17:6 I love to study the people of the Early Church in the book of Acts. The Christians chronicled in the 5th book of the New Testament changed the world forever. They were passionate, bold, full [...]
“..and the earth was filled with violence..” –Gen. 6:11 “…mercy triumphs over judgment.”-James 2:13 We live in strange society morbidly fixated and fascinated with death. Oddly, death has become our entertainment. Every evening, eyes stay glued to video tubes detailing grisly stories of bloodshed real and imagined. Vampires are [...]
“…rather, train yourself to be godly.” -1 Timothy 4:7 Doing the right thing doesn’t always feel right. Often, making the right choice feels wrong. Terrible. Awkward. Weird. Painful. It takes time to train our senses to respond positively to right stimulus. During this training period, we’ll experience withdrawals. [...]
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Ecclesiastes 4:9 Last week, during one of those blistering windy days, I was walking back from lunch to find two artists up on scaffolding painting this magnificent mural on a new business in downtown Sacramento. They were all bundled up, one [...]
The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. -Daniel 1:7-8 “…small doors lead [...]
A friend of mine made the mistake of buying one Advent calendar with chocolate for each day for a household of three little girls. She posted her mishap on Facebook, explaining the younger two were fine taking turns opening the doors until they realized there was candy in there. Apparently the sisters didn’t enjoy watching [...]
Most of us have a pretty good understanding that as followers of Christ we shouldn’t gamble. Gambling seems to be everywhere we look. In movies, on television, in the news, on the internet (go to Google News sometime and search ‘gambling’), etc. Gambling and games of chance are a [...]
We are in the last month of the year. Soon after Christmas (if not before), there will be various end of year lists and ‘Best of 2011′ discussions. While much of the end of year hoopla is a waste, there is wisdom in taking time to assess and [...]
Have a great Saturday and don’t forget to get ready!