This morning in my Bible reading I came across one of my favorite passages in the entire Scripture. It is in Acts 9 and involves just two people – the disciple Ananias and Saul. Saul, notorious for persecuting Christians, has departed Jerusalem after obtaining a letter granting him authority to arrest any Christians he finds…
Have you ever stopped to consider what it must be like to work for Hallmark or another of the companies that creates greeting cards? Imagine spending your whole day attempting to come up with wonderful statements of deep feeling – love, remorse, sympathy – yet without feeling any of the emotions. Imagine having to write…
One of my long-time favorite shows on television is The Antiques Roadshow. It is a show that has been a staple on PBS for many years and on British television for longer than that. The show affords people the opportunity to bring their antique possessions, whether furniture, paintings, toys or anything else, and have them…
I was thrilled several years ago to hear that the book The Lord of the Rings was going to be made into a series of epic films. With production budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and the bulk of the work being done outside of Hollywood, I knew this series was going to…
If the chief end of man is to be a Christian Hedonist, there must be a moment where he becomes such – a moment where a Christian Hedonist is created. Having explained that God’s quest to be glorified and our quest to receive satisfaction are one and the same, the author now turns to a…
A reader posed the question this morning of what it means to be a Reformed Christian. His (or her) question made me realize that though I am Reformed in theology and have been for many years, I do not have a definition of Reformed to answer the question. So I thought today I would post…
I recently read an article (which alas I can no longer find) that described a search the BBC made for the Loch Ness Monster. They swept Loch Ness from end to end, back and forth for several days using some of the world’s most sophisticated sonar equipment. After a complete, thorough search they concluded that…
This is the second article in my series examining John Piper’s book Desiring God. The first article was co-written by myself and Doug from Coffeeswirls and can be found here. Today I am examining the first chapter of this book which is entitled The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism. You will recall that…
In the past several days I have come across a particular passage of Scripture several times. Each time I see it, it grabs my heart. The passage is Hosea verses 1b – 6 which reads: There is no truth or mercyOr knowledge of God in the land.By swearing and lying,Killing and stealing and committing adultery,They…
For several months, I have been conversing with my new friend Doug who runs the site CoffeeSwirls. Since the time we first began writing back and forth I have seen tremendous and exciting growth in Doug as he devotes himself to studying Scripture and seeking wisdom. He recently mentioned that he was going to dive…
I recently completed an in-depth study of the book of Proverbs. Reading one chapter for each day of March, I completed this study in 31 days. As I sought to learn wisdom and discernment from God, I found this to be one of the most rewarding Bible studies I have ever completed. Every day I…
Dr. Mark Miravalle has written a fascinating article for the Catholic Information Network that speaks about Mary’s portrayal in The Passion of the Christ. Miravalle is Professor of Theology and Mariology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, so obviously something of an expert on the subject. Here are some interesting quotes: In a recent interview with…
This is the thirty first and final part in this study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study has been to learn wisdom and discernment from God’s Word. Yesterday I learned that limited human wisdom can never compare with God’s unlimited perfect wisdom. I also saw that though nature proclaims that God…
I am going to approach this matter with caution and brevity, for I certainly do not want to cause anyone to stumble. Several people have inquired whether or not I can verify the claims some people are making that many of the actresses cast in The Passion of the Christ have been involved in pornography.…
This is part thirty in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn wisdom and discernment from God’s Word. Yesterday I learned that I need to keep my mouth and emotions under control lest I be proven foolish by my words or actions. I also saw the…
This is part twenty nine in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn wisdom and discernment from God’s Word. Yesterday I learned that confession is a critical aspect of having a deep, intimate relationship with God. Failing to confess sin to Him will build barriers in…
This is part twenty eight in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn wisdom and discernment from God’s Word. Because today is Sunday this will be an abbreviated look at the chapter. Yesterday I learned that since God is in full control of the future I…
This is part twenty seven in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn wisdom and discernment from God’s Word. Yesterday I learned that no proverb will apply to each and every situation, so I need to be careful in their application. I also saw that I…
This is part twenty six in my 31-day study through the book of Proverbs. The purpose of this study is to learn what God has to say in this book about wisdom and discernment. Yesterday I learned the value of being humble. It is far better to begin humble and be exalted than to begin…
A friend recently asked me for my thoughts on spiritual gifts and particulary, on spiritual gift assessments. I had taken these assessments in the past and, though I found them interesting, found they had little impact on my life. I found that they just discovered the obvious (yes, I like to teach and no, I…