Apparently we have Alanis Morissette to thank for the expression, “Friends with benefits,” but of course, the concept has been around for ages. As with most modern expressions, it sounds benign and even positive. But, when sin is given a new name, it is still sin. God created man, created woman, created marriage and created sex (Gen. 2:18-25). God placed the gift of sex exclusively…

The Bible lays out a pattern for our behavior. God is loving, therefore, we must be loving (1 John 4:7-19). God is forgiving, therefore, we must be forgiving (Matt. 18:21-35). These patterns not only expect the fact of our imitation but also the measurement and length of imitation. Would this not also be true of His many other moral attributes? Consider just one. “God is longsuffering toward…

Today would have been my grandfather’s 110th birthday. While I only have a child’s memory of him, he reminds me of two Bible characters who died when they were 110 years old. Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, died in Egypt when he was 110 years old (Gen. 50:26). Joseph was one who trusted in God. Although his life took unusual turns, he saw the…

Sometimes at a wedding or a funeral, there will be a slideshow of pictures, showing the growth of a person over the years. It’s fun to see the development from a very young child to a much older adult, where the pictures at the end look nothing like the pictures at the beginning.  What if…someone put together a slideshow right now (if this…

Romans 8 begins and ends with a reminder of the blessings of being “in Christ Jesus.” In Christ, there is “now no condemnation” (8:1)! Wow! In Christ, nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God” (8:38-39)! Wow! The verses in between enumerate the riches of these blessings by emphasizing how God sent “His own Son” (8:3), “condemned sin” (8:3), gives “the Spirit” to…

Did your parents ever tell you to do something and you responded with, “Oh, but I can’t”? Maybe it was a teacher or a boss. Or maybe you told your kids to do something and they said, “Oh, but I can’t.” Is that an acceptable response? What about when God tells us something? The Lord came to Jeremiah to commission him as one of His prophets,…

“So, I used a different fire than what God authorized for me to use. What’s the big deal? Fire is fire, right?” “So, first God tells me to strike a rock and then He tells me to speak to a rock, so I just struck it the second time, too. What’s the big deal? Striking the rock was acceptable to Him before, why not now? Besides, we got…

The fastest ride at Disney World is Test Track at Epcot, which reaches a top speed of 65 mph. That pales in comparison to Falcon’s Flight, which is under construction and testing at Six Flags Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia, as it is designed to reach of top speed of 155 mph. Pilots of the SR-71 Blackbird laugh at those speeds, as they flew…