“Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” (Psalm 34:8) Peter did just what this verse of Scripture describes. Simon, as he was known, came to Jesus at the behest of Andrew his brother. At once, he was rechristened with a...

Take a seed in your hand – a tomato seed for instance. Examine it carefully. It does not seem like much could come from it. Such a seed is so small, and it possesses a tough and hard exterior. By surface observation, a seed doesn’t look like much at all....

Peter understood crises of identity. Perhaps more than any other figure in our Bibles, this Apostle wrestled with who he was. We meet Peter in the first chapter of John’s gospel. His brother Andrew has discovered the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whom John the Baptist pointed to as the Lamb of...

“Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” (Philippians 4:21-23) These are the closing lines of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi....

“Rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.” (Philippians 3:1) Rejoice – there’s that word again. Paul wouldn’t let it go. He kept telling the Philippians to think with God about all Jesus had done for them...

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” You might be surprised at the location of these very words in the Scriptures and at the situation in which they were spoken. The phrase is found in Nehemiah 8. It is expressed as an exhortation and command to a saddened group...

I want to talk about Paul, a man who wrote a good deal of what we know as the New Testament in our Bibles. From this man’s mind and heart came pictures, great and eternal illustrations, of how we are to see Christ and His Church. From this early missionary,...

A good list is a good list and can help us in many ways. I think I am coming to the place where I need lists more than ever. It is because I can allow myself to absorb way, way, way too much information and even a large capacity memory...

I am a runner. Not everyone is. It takes a series of choices to run, especially on days when your feet kind of hurt and you knees ache a little. Sometimes you just don’t feel like doing it. What my practice comes down to is usually just taking the first...

At a certain point, we come to the subject of faith in the epistle of Hebrews. This discussion and instruction closes Chapter 10 and then takes off through Chapter 11.  The whole message of Hebrews is directed toward people struggling in difficulties. For most of this letter, we are told...