Into the Mess My high school Calculus teacher was a retired commander in the U.S. military. He would often work out problems on the chalkboard (back when there were chalkboards in classrooms), going through many steps and covering the entire board with equations and computations. In the midst of the long, arduous problem-solving process and before finally arriving at the…
Lest We Forget The phrase “lest we forget” is often used in connection with Veterans Day (formerly known as Armistice Day) on November 11, as Americans remember the service of men and women in our military forces to defend our country and protect our liberties. Even before the term was used in reference to veterans, it was used in a…
And it came to pass in those days, that there came a decree from Augustus Caesar, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (This first taxing was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 Therefore went all to be taxed, every man to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of a city called Nazareth, into…
Jesus, Master John Wesley was an Anglican minister who served for a time as a missionary in the newly established English colony of Georgia. His time here was not a success. Wesley had been brought up in the church (his father was a minister) but he did not know Jesus. Wesley was “religious” but didn’t have a personal relationship with…
October 2018: Lift Up Your Heads Current events unfolding in the world can be frightening if viewed without a firm belief in the truth of God’s word and His sovereignty. Christianity is under serious attack throughout the world and many Christians are dying for their faith. In the West, the culture itself is becoming more anti-Christian and openly hostile toward…
A shoebox — it’s a simple thing. But shoeboxes—113 million in number, and all containing a colorful and child-friendly Gospel storybook—have been used to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with children who are poor, suffering, lonely, sick, homeless, and who live in areas that are dangerous and affected by war and natural disasters. Fueled by the power of…
The last day of October was the 498th anniversary of a pivotal event in western history. On that day in 1517 an obscure Roman Catholic monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s bold act changed the face of Europe and later on much of the…
Sinclair Ferguson, a well-known Scottish theologian, says that when visiting a church, he looks for two things: Is there frequent teaching of God’s Word to the congregation? Are they devoted to prayer? Indeed, he has noticed that the least-attended meetings at many churches are those centered on prayer. But prayer is serious business. By the time this article appears in…
Rosh Hashana, literally the “head of the year” in Hebrew begins on the evening of September 13 this year at sundown. For Jews around the world this is the beginning of the High Holy Days, which include Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on September 23 and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) which runs from September 28 until October 6.…
The month of May seems more like the “end of the year” than December. In May comes the last day of school. Our “Sunday School year” also ends, and in June we go into “summer mode” as families travel for vacation and as children attend camps. For the past nine months, we have been blessed to have many adults be…
