If you have heard the story of the prophet, Jonah, you will probably immediately think of how he was swallowed by a whale. The story goes that God sent Jonah to the great city of Nineveh to warn the people that He would send destruction upon them because of their wickedness. But instead of doing what God had commanded, Jonah ran away. He boarded a ship headed in the opposite direction. God sent a great [...]
Have you ever had the experience of expecting things to turn out one way, but when it comes to it, it turns out to be very different from what you expected? Maybe it was a person. Someone you didn’t really know very well, or someone you had never actually met, but you knew about them. Somehow you had it all worked out in your mind exactly what they were like. But then, when you finally [...]
Though the LORD is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud. (Psalm 138:6 NLT) Did you ever wonder why God favors those who are humble? Both James and Peter are referring to this verse in the Psalms when they write, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, 1Peter 5:5) Does God get satisfaction from seeing people tremble in fear at His [...]
Have you ever felt like you didn’t deserve God’s grace? Well, that’s kind of the point. Grace is not something you deserve. In fact, the whole point of grace is that it blesses you with goodness and kindness that you do not deserve and have not earned. It is integral to the nature of God to be gracious. By His grace, God showers His people with mercy and compassion and lovingkindness. In fact, He bestows [...]
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. (1 Chronicles 16:34) Where does one begin to declare the goodness of the Lord God? Can you imagine pure goodness, untainted by selfishness or evil in even the slightest degree? Can you imagine a God who is wholly good in all that He does, in His every plan and purpose, in every motivation of His heart, in every gift that [...]
Oh, what a glorious thing to be forgiven! To no longer carry the guilt of your sins! God’s willingness to forgive all who come to Him in true humility and repentance is an amazing thing. But I have found that the forgiveness of God is often misunderstood. On the one hand, there is nothing you or I can do to earn forgiveness from God. We receive God’s forgiveness based on what Jesus did on our [...]
The three-in-one or trinitarian nature of God is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts to grasp when we contemplate the nature of God. But when we begin to understand this very foundational facet of His nature, we also gain insights into our relationship with Him and with one other. I have found that the trinitarian nature of God explains the why of many things. What do we mean by the Trinity? Sometimes people seem [...]
Unless you have studied European Renaissance Literature, you may not know the name of John Donne. John Donne was born into a Catholic family in England in 1572. That may not seem significant to you, but due to laws previously passed by Queen Elizabeth I, anyone not faithfully attending the Church of England in those days was subject to fines, confiscation of property or imprisonment. In 1601, John Donne secretly married Anne More, grand-niece of [...]
From Professor Douglas O. Linder, UMKC School of Law: Although the 1995 criminal trial of O.J. Simpson for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman has been called "a great trash novel come to life," no one can deny the pull it had on the American public. If the early reports of the murder of the wife of the ex-NFL football star (turned-NBC-sports-announcer) hadn't caught people's full attention, Simpson's surreal Bronco ride on [...]
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 [...]
