As I sat with my father in hospice care twenty-four years ago I was able to hear a lot about his life I hadn’t known. It was not an easy life. Poverty and even brief homelessness as a child after World War I and during the Depression of the 1930’s. He entered the army...

Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering. (1 Kings 18:38) I'm constantly amazed that the God of the universe will go out of His way for me. I mean, He needs nothing and lacks nothing. He's the most secure, content, happy, powerful Person there is, and...

“Elijah replied, ‘I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals.’” (1 Kings 18:18) We hear a lot about justice, judges, trials, and the like on the news today. None of it seems...

Let’s begin with basic definitions. To “save” means: 1) to keep safe or rescue from harm or danger and 2) to keep and store up for future use. And – of course – a “savior” is one who saves. Now, keep those definitions in mind as we drill down on these verses. First...

“Do you love me?” He (Peter) said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said. (John 21:17) Jesus chose Peter, called Peter, and discipled Peter. The night before Jesus was crucified, Peter insisted that he would lay down his...

The 19th Century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is credited with saying, “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” Nietzsche is long dead, but that saying still appears regularly on T-shirts, advertisements, bumper stickers and high school football coaches pep...

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. (John 20:29) Do you ever consider the absurdity of your faith? Do you believe that in the first century, a Jewish rabbi was crucified, buried, then rose back to life? That he then passed through walls, appearing and...

“Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.” Wait! Isn’t that the opening sentence of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”? Yes it is, but I wanted you to think about death properly before we move on to the Resurrection. As another famous British author, C. S. Lewis said,...

So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14) Jesus had chosen twelve men to be his disciples and had spent the prior three years with them, preparing them to spread the Gospel after his resurrection. He...

About two years after I became a Christian, I found myself married, with a wife, a six year old son and a teenage sister-in-law depending on me. In a national recession I also found myself unemployed. Walking into church one Wednesday evening, the Pastor asked me, “So...