Christian Living

An old Yiddish proverb says, “God gave burdens, also shoulders.” But have you ever felt that your shoulders were too weak to bear your burdens? This is one reason God has made the church a family—that we might bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

Some of the final words written by the Apostle Paul under divine inspiration dealt with the subject of loyalty and particularly the loyalty or disloyalty of certain preachers to himself. Second Timothy chapter four speaks of Demas as having forsaken Paul, of Luke as remaining with him in his last days, and of the fact that at his trial, “No man stood with me, but all men forsook me.” Standing with Paul or forsaking him certainly appears as a theme in his final epistle.

When the twelve spies returned from their foray into the Promised Land, all of them gave testimony to seeing the same things. They all saw a fertile land that flowed with milk and honey and they saw the fruit that the land produced such as the grapes of Eshcol.

Our natural tendency is to create our own definitions of purity—building longer and more impressive lists of rules every year. But if we want to please God, we must get our definition of pure religion from the Bible.

One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament deals with David and his band of men living in a place called Ziklag. Ziklag was a village or town that was under Philistine control. David had become weary of running from Saul and thought that it might be better to hang out in this outpost city.

Recently, on a Saturday morning, I went soulwinning with my three-year-old daughter, Annalene. As we knocked doors, she asked if her job could be to carry the tracts. After she managed carrying the tracts, she asked if she could ring the “ding bells” at each door.

I recently preached on “Give Me that Old Time Religion.” But my text wasn’t from Jeremiah 6 about the old paths. In fact, the message itself wasn’t about the “old time religion” in the sense of preserving a culture from earlier days of fundamentalism.

During suffering, realities of life change our perspective on priorities. Suddenly, the trivial and petty things that used to mean so much to us, mean almost nothing. Through these times, God refocuses our vision and realigns our priorities with His.

In my article 5 Reasons to Use the King James Version, I said that some of the features most criticized in the King James Bible are among the best reasons to keep it! For example, consider the thee’s and thou’s. The King James Version was not written in the everyday language of people on the street in 1611.

Without hesitation, I can say that God has done His greatest works in my life through seasons of adversity. Sometimes, however, in moments of introspection we wonder, Why all the suffering?

A hog and a hen sharing the same barnyard heard about a church’s program to feed the hungry. The hog and the hen discussed how they could help. The hen said, “I’ve got it! We’ll provide bacon and eggs for the church to feed the hungry.”

Constructive criticism is an incredible asset. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend….” Some of the most helpful advice and counsel I have ever received has come in the form of such “wounds.”

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul told Timothy to, “Purge himself from these” in order to become “a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use.” The “these” from which Timothy must purge himself in order to be used of God are false teachers, such as Hymenaeus and Philetus.

Perhaps it was ingrained into our minds during elementary school, but there is something about summertime that seems to change people’s thinking. Even adults seem to develop a kind of “recess mentality” that focuses on self and lets responsibility slide.

To many, holiness means stained glass windows, organ music, or candles. Those things are not holiness. They are religious trappings of people trying to create an aura of holiness.

Bible believing Christians were shocked when they heard President Obama call for the re-establishment of pre-1967 borders for Israel with some adjustments. While many U.S. Presidents have tried to negotiate peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, President Obama’s position (which he has since softened) may signal a shift in U.S. policy toward Israel—one that is dangerous to our prosperity as a nation.

Romans is one of the most clearly organized books in the New Testament. The opening sentences give the theme, which is, “The gospel of God” (Romans 1:1), and the first chapters go into detail explaining the implications of the Gospel.

If you are a Christian worker of any kind, you have faced discouraging times. I remember when we were starting the Good News Baptist Church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Several times when it was time for our evening service, I had the church cleaned, the chairs set up, hymnbooks laid out, music playing, my sermon tucked away neatly in my Bible, and threw open the door ready to quickly step out of the way lest I be trampled by the surging throngs of people hungry to hear God’s Word!

Summer is one of the best times for making memories and becoming more productive. The longer evening hours make for great family and ministry time, and the changes in our routines that happen around this time of year, are the perfect opportunity to take a fresh look at our goals and plan our priorities.