Before the time of Socrates, there was a Greek philosopher named Empedocles. He was famous for discovering that air is a separate substance. But I think he is notable for his statement about the presence of God. He is credited with saying, “God is...

The other day, I was listening to a podcast of a local pastor and heard an amazing statement. He said that we are born looking like our parents, but we die “looking like” what we worship. He was asserting the power of influence. We become like...

In business and politics, compromise might be a good concept. But in the realm of spirituality, it is not. God’s standard is that we love, worship, and obey Him 100% of the time. His expectation is comprehensive and leaves no loop holes. But you...

We Americans pride ourselves on our independence. We cherish it (appropriately most of the time) and often embrace Sinatra’s “My Way” as our personal theme song. But as I stumbled across a story in the Old Testament, I am wondering if we ought to...

For the last 14 plus months we have all been hearing a great deal about COVID and how to retard its spread. We know that maintaining physical distance between people is a good thing. Covering our mouths seems to slow down the spread of the virus....

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Hawaii. I was frequently asked what I was doing on my vacation and I responded each time with : “sun, fun, read, food, repeat.” It was a great trip. But unfortunately, because of COVID restrictions, I wasn’t...

If you had the opportunity to write your own eulogy, what would it say?  What would you want to be known for? What is important to you? And how do those qualities show up in your everyday life? If we asked those same questions about the...

I read a short story about a teacher from back east somewhere. It was recess time and she had just finished putting on the last pair of boots on her first graders. There were 32 pairs in all. The last little girl she was helping remarked, “You know...

I read a cool story this week. It was about the famous American painter, Benjamin West. Apparently when he was a child, he decided to paint a picture of his sister. His mom wasn’t home, so he got the bottles of ink down himself and started his...

Recently, a number of my personal friends have been struggling with a wide array of challenges. Some of the pressure has come from physical issues. Some of the strain has appeared because of COVID related work situations. Some are dealing with...

One of the strongest arguments for the authenticity of the Bible is the fact that God included the not-so-wonderful parts of the story of His people. He didn’t just present His people as perfect, He made sure that we also get to see His men and...

Most of our Bibles catalog Acts 15 with the title, “The Council at Jerusalem.” But I am thinking that we ought to re-title the chapter, “How to Have a Really Big Disagreement in a Very Spiritual Way.” Re-read this chapter and take a few moments to...