Are you feeling weary, discouraged, weak, or disillusioned in serving God? Well, you’re not alone. That’s where Timothy is when we read 2 Timothy:1-4 and that’s where all of us are some of the time and where some of us are most of the time. When one is involved in the noble fight for the souls... read more »

Our city has become a gathering place for refugees. Some escape political persecution. Some have abandoned countries ravaged by decades of war. Some, seeking to provide for their family, have come to a place they didn’t know with the hope they would find peace. In a neighborhood just a stone’s... read more »

Firewalkers fascinate me. These people have a special something that allows them to look down at a bed of hot coals, unbuckle their sandals or peel off their socks, and step right in. Some see it as a rite of passage, a way to conquer fear, or a way to uncover some hidden vein of inner strength.... read more »

Mega-successful TV chef Rachael Ray is hardly one of the elite. “She cannot cook like I cook,” commented her rival Martha Stewart. “She cannot craft like I craft.” Yet Rachael has won viewers’ hearts—not least of all because of her charitable approach to her critics. Author and chef... read more »

As an avid angler, I find the stories of Jesus and fishing particularly compelling. In one account, along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus appeared to His disciples for the third time following His resurrection (John 21:1-23). Similar to the time they had first met the Master (Luke 5:1-11), they had caught... read more »

The other day I stopped at a service station to fill up my car’s gas tank. When I went inside to pay, I noticed a little sparrow hopping around on the windowsill next to the cashier. She told me the sparrow had flown into the window a few days earlier and injured its wing. So she had brought it... read more »

Hebrews 3:12-13: Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against... read more »

Genesis 6:17-21: Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a... read more »

John 8:2-6: Early the next morning He was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and He sat down and taught them. As He was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.... read more »

The Roman emperors demanded that their citizens demonstrate allegiance by kneeling before their image, pinching a bit of incense, and declaring, “Caesar is Lord.” Tertullian, a writer in the early church, would have none of it. He told the emperor that Christians would not pray to him as if he... read more »