Discouragement is the common cold of the emotions. Eventually it affects everybody. Elijah—God’s iron man of the Old Testament—became so discouraged that he sat down under a tree and asked to die. Jesus himself often “sighed deeply within his spirit” (Mark 8:12).
The apostle Paul said tha...
One of the most sobering verses in all the Bible is Psalm 78:41, which says that they “limited the Holy One of Israel.” It is an awesome, sobering thought that mere man could limit Almighty God.
The Hebrew word translated as limit literally means “to mark off” or “to ci...
It has been my custom for a good many years when I start a new year as the pastor of the church to bring a message about the church and its ministry. So you’ll understand if I’m a little more personal than I usually am.
Someone has said, “I care not who writes the laws of the land, so long as I can write the songs.” If you want to understand a nation or a generation, you should study its music. We can learn much from the sports, the amusements, the laws, and the humor of a nation. But to discover the heart and soul of the people,...
The story is told of a homesick, lonely soldier returning from Europe after World War II that humorously carries a thought-provoking punch. As the ship neared the coast of New York, the young man hugged the rail and with a catch in his voice and tears streaming down his face, he looked across to the Statue of Liberty and spok...
Supreme Court Justice David Brewer once said that any individual or any institution that could take a Bible to every home in the country would do more for the country than all the armies that ever marched from the beginning of time until now. It is because we believe so much in the Bible that we are trying to put a Bible in e...
A student once said that in their seminary every student was required to memorize four psalms. For example they must know Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd …” They then must be able to say from their own personal experience, “I know the Lord, and he is my shepherd.” They were also required to m...
An old Norwegian tale tells of a boy who found an egg in a nest as he was climbing in the rocky cliffs near his home. He took it home, placed it with the eggs under a goose, and it hatched a freakish creature.