When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, Joshua commanded that twelve stones be taken from the river and set up in Gilgal as a reminder to God’s people of the power of God, when they “crossed over this Jordan on dry land” (Josh. 4:22).  Reminders can be a powerful thing!   What sort of reminders can we establish today to help us to…

When you read through the Bible and come across a woman named Rahab, the first thing you learn about her is not the most favorable in the eyes of God. We learn in Joshua 2:1 that she was “a harlot.” Why does the Bible choose to tell us that? God could have left that particular detail out and the rest of the…

Some calendars now have Monday as the first day of the week. How does that affect Christians? Are we supposed to worship on Monday now? Is Sunday the seventh day now? Christians worship on the first day of the week (which is Sunday) because that is the day specified and authorized by God. The Jews were to “remember the Sabbath” (Ex. 20:8),…

There is a debate in our nation as to whether hate speech is protected by the First Amendment or not. Some believe that the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights (which includes, “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech”) protects hate speech and some believe that it does not. So, does it or not? A faithful Christian looks…

In our nation today, we are surrounded by individuals who immediately and automatically disagree with what someone says simply because of the person who is saying it. Certain people disagree with everything the President says (no matter what), or everything a Democrat says, or everything a Republican says, or everything a certain news agency says, etc. They don’t really listen to what…

A person’s natural inclination (also known as a person’s bent) is the particular manner in which a person reacts to various life situations.  Some people’s natural inclination/bent is to fight, while others is to draw back; some will complain, while others will stew; many will tend to worry, while others will just laugh it off.  What is your natural inclination?  You’ve got…

Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you had someone over to your home? I only ask because the New Testament has some very direct things to say to Christians about this. “Seek to show hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (1 Pet. 4:9). “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some…

There was a Roman centurion on duty during the crucifixion of Jesus. There is no way to know for sure how much he witnessed, but at the very least, he probably saw a brutally beaten and bleeding man barely make it to the crucifixion site. He saw this man thrown down and savagely nailed to that piece of timber. He watched as…