Every translation I checked for 2 Thessalonians 3:3 begins the verse with the word “But.” What’s the big deal about that? The chapter begins with Paul asking his brethren to “pray for us.” First and foremost, Paul wanted “the word of the Lord” to be able to “run swiftly and be glorified.” Then, he longed to “be delivered from unreasonable and wicked…

Faithful Christians are responsible for standing for truth (Eph. 6:10-14) and giving an answer to questions that are asked (1 Pet. 3:15). It is truly amazing how God supplied the answers in His Word (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17), even before many of the answers were ever needed. Consider this. Which of the apostles was married? Was James? John? Matthew?…

Surely there’s nothing wrong with it, right? A customer in a restaurant with self-service fountain drinks asks the cashier for a water cup. A small (maybe 9 oz.), translucent cup is handed to the “customer,” so that he can dispense some drinking water into his free water cup. The customer then makes his way to the dispenser and proceeds to make another…

American screenwriter, director and film producer, Joss Whedon (known for “Avengers” and “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”), once said, “Loneliness is about the scariest thing out there.” For too many people, they would agree with that conclusion. But, let’s make a distinction. Do you think there were any Bible characters who experienced loneliness? Joseph? David? Jeremiah? Paul? Most certainly there were times when…

While most Christians know “The Golden Rule,” there are many of us who have a hard time living it consistently. Meditate on this paraphrase (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), and ask yourself, “Is this my standard operating procedure?” What if God had said, “Think about others as you would have them think about you”? Do I…

The wise man Solomon warned about “difficult days” (NKJV), “evil days” (NASB) and “days of trouble” (NIV) in the closing verses of Ecclesiastes. Life has a way of flipping everything upside down, shaking everything really hard and then doing the Hulk-to-Loki smash until our world is completely spinning. The Bible doesn’t say that those days “could” come but that they are going…

Equations are funny things. They work every time the same way without fail and without exception. One plus one equals two every time without fail and without exception. Bible students know that  there are numerous divine “equations” in the Bible, which, as do all equations, work every time the same way without fail and without exception. One such “equation” is in Ephesians…

Anyone driving through rural central Florida will be inundated with billboards that have images of little babies and text that proclaims, “My heart is beating 18 days after conception!” I am so thankful for that stretch of highway every time we drive through it. But, right here in town, there is another billboard with a picture of child that says, “Every child…