We last see Joseph when he and Mary go back to the temple to find Jesus who was AWOL on the trip back home from the Passover. Jesus was 12 years old at the time. Joseph must have died sometime after that, but Scripture doesn’t say when, where, or why. Dare I speculate, given that […]
There was no profuse sadness on Jesus’ part when he found out from John’s disciples that King Herod had him killed in prison. No rending of His garments, denouncing Herod, or declarations that John had died before his time. You see, John the Baptist had to die. It was his time. John’s job of announcing […]
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real […]
The Bible is not all there is, but it is the source of all there is. Billy Graham, Oswald Chambers, and David Wilkerson are extensions of the Bible writ large. Though not exactly like Elijah, Isaiah, Paul, and John the Baptist, they are Christ-followers extraordinaire and what they say matters. In his authoritative commentary of […]
The term born-again gets bad press in some circles of Christendom, probably because folks don’t understand what the basic definition is. We all are born into the family of Adam and Eve and become citizens of this natural world, separated from God as were Adam and Eve. When anyone chooses to receive Jesus Christ as […]
“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine.” Whose plans are you carrying out today?1. My own plans.2. The plans of my political party.3. My keep-up-with-the-Joneses plan.4. The plans that the people I admire tell me to carry out.5. God’s plans. The questions to ask […]
The question is not what you believe about Jesus Christ – His virgin birth, His miracles, His death on the cross and resurrection, His ascension into heaven – but what you do with that belief. That is, how do you live out your life accepting what you accept and knowing what you know? How do […]
The Apostle John, the mystic of old, was above all the rest, the one whom Jesus loved. Why do you think that was? I believe John was more surrendered to Jesus than any of the other apostles, the one who was closer to him than all the rest, the one who leaned back into Jesus’ […]
“Do you like mysteries?” the young man asked the old man the next morning. “I am confounded by mysteries,” he said, “especially concerning the cross. I understand that redemption took place on the cross, but why a cross?” The young man looked straight into his eyes as if He could see right through him, which […]
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT Blessed are the poor in spirit, Jesus preached on the mountainside. “Blessed are those who don’t try to usurp Me … and those who put themselves in the background … who don’t try to draw attention to themselves by being clever or smarter than the rest … who don’t […]