When you consider the Christians you have known, who would you say was “the least”? Would you say it was the guy who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) beat his addiction to alcohol? Would you say it was the lady who always smelled like she hadn’t had a bath in weeks? Would you say it was the man who came for a while, fell away, came back,…

The very word “black” and the word “white” are now words that trigger reactions (negative reactions) in the minds of so many—even when those words are not even being used of people. Recently individuals have been offended by “black” and “white” chess pieces and “black” and “white” checkered patterns on the chessboard. Some people react when they hear that something is written in “black…

The man had been blind from birth (John 9:1). Don’t you know that he longed to see with his entire being! Jesus came and spit on the ground, “made clay with the saliva” and “anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay” (9:6). Can you imagine being the blind man and having someone else do that to you? Then, Jesus said to him, “Go,…

In comparing himself to Jesus, John the Baptizer said, “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose” (Mark 1:7). When the master fisherman, Peter, witnessed Jesus’ miraculous catch of fish, he (in his astonishment) exclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8). Even the Roman centurion realized, “I am not worthy that You should…

Growing up and memorizing the Ten Commandments, the second commandment seemed so obvious that it’s not even necessary to teach it today. Right? “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Ex. 20:4). That’s so “3,500 years ago”! Fast forward about 700 years from Exodus 20 and God’s people had hung on to “the bronze serpent” Moses made in Numbers 20 to save the people…

You wake up in the morning and you have no idea what may happen that day. You never know what awaits you when you arrive at work. You never know what news might be on the other end of a phone call. You never know what someone may take out on you unexpectedly. You never know what your car may do, what a family member may…

There is an interesting expression used by Paul in his first letter to the brethren in Thessalonica. Not many months after the brethren there had protected Paul and helped him to safely leave the city by night (Acts 17:5-10), Paul wrote a letter to them to impart some heavenly truths and encouragement. He noted that he had “been taken away from you for a…

When gas prices were over four dollars per gallon a few years back, I remember hearing talk about that being so expensive that some folks could not afford to go to church. Take a minute and figure out how much it costs you to drive to church. If you live 20 miles from the building (which is more than most) and you get 15…