Road construction. It’s one of our favorite things, isn’t it? When visiting other cities, many times a local will say, “This stretch of highway has been under construction for as long as I can remember!” And then there’s building construction. New apartments, homes and businesses are going up all over town. It seems wherever you go there is a perpetual state of construction.…

As He prepared to feed five thousand men, Jesus “looked up to heaven” (Mark 6:41). Think about that action, that posture, and its purpose. Looking up. When Jesus came to Bethsaida in Mark 8, He put His hands on a blind man, and the man “looked up” (8:24-25). It may seem simple, but again, think about that action of looking up. How…

Did you see the Super Bowl commercial of a soon-to-be dad eating a bag of Doritos, while an ultrasound was being performed on his unborn child? The commercial showed the unborn child reaching for the Doritos in whatever direction the dad moved his hand. Well, wouldn’t you know it, somebody didn’t like the ad. Specifically, a pro-choice group called NARAL tweeted that the…

A friend of mine was going through a series of very difficult trials, and the troubles seemed to keep piling higher and higher. Like many of us who have been challenged by the adversities of life, this fellow Christian dispiritedly texted, “I’m not strong enough for this,” but probably did not anticipate the response that began, “You’re right! YOU are not!” How many…

When properly applied, the action of “rebuke” involves one, who is in a position of authority, severely censuring another. The Greek word for “rebuke” (epitimao) is found in 29 verses of the New Testament, and interestingly, 27 of the 29 verses are in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The Bible tells us that Jesus “rebuked the wind” (Luke 8:24). Isn’t that a cool…

Antidisestablishmentarianism is a big word. 28 letters. That’s pretty big! Have you heard of pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis? It is supposedly a lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust. 45 letters. That’s really big! But the 3-letter word “and” is even bigger! “And” is a coordinating conjunction, which is a part of speech that grammatically joins parts of a sentence that are equal (in importance…

Go back 2,000 years and imagine explaining to someone all of the different brands and styles of paper that are available today. If someone is looking for plain white, 20 Lb., 8.5″ x 11″ paper, there are over 20 different brands (at least from my brief search). What! It’s just plain, white paper! Why are there so many different varieties? Why can’t we…

When Moses came off of Mount Sinai and caught sight of the golden calf, his “anger became hot”  (Ex. 32:19). Was Moses wrong to be angry at Israel’s idolatry? When Jesus came into the temple and caught sight of “those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables,” “He made a scourge of cords, and…