Thomas Chisholm (1866-1960) lived an ordinary life. Born in a log cabin in Kentucky, he became a teacher at age sixteen. Chisholm enjoyed writing poetry and at twenty-one, he became associate editor of his town newspaper in Franklin, Kentucky. At twenty-seven, Chisholm received Christ as his Savior under the revival ministry of Dr. Henry Clay Morrison. He moved to Louisville to become the editor and business manager of Dr. Morrison’s Pentecostal Herald. At the age [...]
David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.” (1Chr. 21:13) What does mercy mean to you? Noah Webster described mercy as, That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that [...]
Humanity has problems with the justice of God. On the one hand, people complain when God does not act, when evil appears to go unpunished and innocents suffer. On the other hand, people fear God’s strict standard of judgment. God is just, and as in all things, God’s justice is perfect and complete. His judgments are right and good. The real issue is that sin is a bigger problem than we like to admit. Sin [...]
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them. (Hosea 14:9) When it comes to righteousness, let me clarify something right from the beginning. When the Bible speaks of righteousness, it doesn’t mean self-righteousness. Human self-righteousness is prideful and arrogant. It is about proving I am right and [...]
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all. (Psalm 103:19) As Americans, we get most of our ideas of royalty from books, movies, and British royal weddings. We think of lavish ceremonies, extravagant clothing and priceless jewels. Depending on our personal tastes in books and movies, we may think of palace intrigue, power struggles, and scandal. Or we may think of nobility, great battles against evil, and selfless [...]
Our lives are constrained by time. Hours pass into days and seasons into years as time marches forward. A child looks ahead and counts the hours long. A gray-haired man looks back and asks, “Where have the years gone?” The passage of time brings order to our lives. It gives us a frame of reference, a common standard by which we communicate and coordinate in community. For one, the number of his days on earth [...]
When we contemplate the nature of God, we may find ourselves puzzled, mystified, befuddled. We stand amazed, in awe, and slightly overwhelmed. The nature of God, to be honest, is more than we can fully take in all at once. But He understands. He is never confused or misinformed. He never makes a decision, as we do, based on faulty or incomplete knowledge or understanding. He is never fooled by deception – He is able [...]
As human beings, we live with limitation. We may expand our reach, but there are boundaries we simply cannot cross. We cannot be in two places at once. But God is not limited by space or time. Space and time as we experience it are a part of God’s Creation. As Creator of the heavens and earth, God transcends His Creation. God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, is right here with us in the [...]
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. (Isaiah 40:28) When I think of God as Creator, I am reminded that He knows and understands. Because God created me, He understands me. He knows how I function, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He not only knows me, He knows all of His [...]
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” (Matt. 1:22-23) As we contemplate together what it means for God to be with us, let’s first turn our attention to the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon in about 597 BC. That [...]
