You’ve been there, haven’t you? When everything seems to be going wrong? When things at home, things at school, things at work, things at church…things with friends, things with family… personal things, technology  things, health things, financial things…e-v-e-r-y thing goes wrong? What have people told you to do? Finish the sentence: “When all else fails…” What? “When all else fails, read the…

What was Jesus’ purpose in coming? How would you answer that question? Our immediate thought likely goes to Luke 19:10–“to seek and to save the lost.” Can you think of a verse that has the word “purpose”? Approaching His final hours, Jesus exclaimed, “For this purpose I came to this hour…” (John 12:27). Peter preached that He was “delivered by the determined…

Drive-by “shoot outs” are killing faith! The Lord wasn’t kidding when He said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21). It truly is “full of deadly poison” (Jas. 3:8), so much so that it is killing people’s faith! It is infuriating how reckless (and intentionally reckless) unbelievers can be with their tongue, by spouting off lies and…

When God inspired one preacher to write a letter of instruction and encouragement to another preacher, the Lord made it abundantly clear that He had only one message to be taught and obeyed – neither the preacher nor the adherents were to deviate from His narrow course. They were to “teach no other doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:3). To emphasize the singularity and…

How many times has God been accused of “not being fair”? When consequences for actions come to bear, sometimes God is blamed for them. However, as God explained to His people through Ezekiel, it is not His way that is not “fair” but “man’s ways.” (Notice the pronouns.) “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O…

In 2 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul recited a litany of excuses he had given for not regularly worshiping with the saints: “…in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I…

When you begin to think about what the Bible says regarding Jesus’ relationship to the church, could you identify where Jesus is in the church? The Bible says that Jesus is the foundation (and chief cornerstone) of the church (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20). Therefore, in one sense, Jesus is under the church. The Bible says that Jesus is the head of…

Peter was thrown into prison in Acts 12, and Scripture says that he was “kept in prison” (12:5). Paul and Silas were cast into prison in Acts 16, and the jailor was charged to “keep them safely” (16:23). When you think about a prison and think about prisoners being kept, there is a certain confinement and even protection that likely comes to…