The lost sheep of God’s people Upon selecting the twelve men who would be His closest companions, His most devoted students and the foundational stones for His church, Jesus sent His apostles out to preach, but only to a select group of people. They were not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only “to the lost sheep of the…

Jesus taught that there are basically two types of trees in this world, or as it is applied, basically two types of persons in the world — the good and the bad. And, each tree bears its own fruit. A good tree will produce and bear good fruit; a bad tree will produce and bear bad fruit. Consider Jesus’ words carefully: “For…

Those who compete in foot races all compete at different levels of intensity and for different reasons. In a single “race” or marathon, there may be some who run the whole distance, some who walk the whole distance and others who run-walk the whole distance (running some and walking some). As a Christian, which would you identify as the best depiction of…

It’s interesting how some Christians can find justification (even “Biblical justification,” in their minds) for their sinful behavior. For example, some Christians, knowing full-well that the Bible condemns the drinking of alcoholic beverages, have found solace in the medical professionals who recommend drinking in moderation for health benefits. As if doctors trump God’s Word! Now, here’s the latest (perhaps) in this trend.…

News report: “There is an obvious target being placed upon Christians, and the thugs behind the attacks are not satisfied with anything short of murder. Extreme persecution and violence is the order of the day. Just the other day a Christian was beheaded, and so now the question is, ‘What will Christians do?’” The above paragraph (notice the quotation marks) could have…

It is such an unpleasant topic–death. Who wants to talk about it? Who wants to think about it? But, the reality is that the one thing that every person on earth has in common is that one day they will die. For those who do not believe in absolutes, guess what? Death is an absolute! It is absolutely going to happen! Every…

It sure can be easy to let the circumstances of life and the things happening around us to get us down and dejected. What else is going to go wrong in this country? What else is going to happen to the cost of living? What else is going to trouble my family and my friends? Rather than focusing on “all the bad…

Living in a fast-paced, self-gratifying world, it is not always easy or automatic to be kindhearted and to show kindness toward others, but that is exactly what the Lord expects of us. The love that is to characterize, motivate and permeate the Christian life “is kind” (1 Cor. 13:4). We are to “put  on…kindness” (Col. 3:12), being instructed to “be kind to…