What do people need for life in the twenty-first century? Abby Watkins lists the necessities. They include an adequate food supply, water free from pollutants and diseases; facilities to dispose of human waste, adequate healthcare, shelter, education, and access to information. 1  As you will soon see, these things are clearly insufficient to provide complete satisfaction and contentment. Forty-four percent of Americans say they are “very satisfied” with the way things are go

How will we spend eternity? It depends. Have you noticed that when we are having fun, time passes quickly? It hitches a ride on a snail’s back when we are in pain. Perhaps that is an eternal principle for the blessed and cursed.   How we spend eternity is connected to our choice to worship and serve God or resist and rebel against Him. God “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV), and we will spend it somewhere. But where?   All people have one of two eternal

People without hope quit. Darkness swallows them alive. 1 Peter provides hope when our faith is severely tested .   Some first-century Christians were beaten (Acts 16:16 -40). Some were stoned to death (Acts 8:54-60). Some were jailed and executed (Acts 12:1-5). Many became lion chow.     Despite their afflictions, living hope sustained them, and they did not deny their faith. Like them, we will inevitably experience persecution if we seek to live godly in Christ Jesus (2 Ti

“For the French, and for most other people on this planet, U.S. elections are actually more decisive than our own in shaping our lives…. If there were any fairness in the world, we should all be able to vote in American elections.” 1     What U.S. elections are on the world stage is true in our relationships with others. Most of us relate to one or more people in such a way that our decisions are more important to their long-term well-being than their own decisions.   The par

Some jobs intimidate us. We are afraid of failure. Nehemiah’s approach to difficult jobs teaches us how to face daunting challenges.   Principle 1 – Do your homework   Nehemiah was not a plumber who knew how to fix a leak. He was the king’s food and drink tester. For the challenge he faced, he needed a different set of skills.   His assignment was to lead people he did not know in rebuilding a wall they might think unnecessary. Surprisingly, he volunteered for the job because

Some people support us. Some resist us. Most ignore us. Have you noticed? That is also how people relate to God. His kingdom expands when supporters are empowered, and those who formerly resisted and ignored Him become supporters.   God does not want to destroy us. He patiently waits for us to repent (2 Peter 3:9). Some, but not all, people do. We who are Christians did.   Our purpose is to glorify Him. But that raises a question. How can we seek God's kingdom most effectivel

Wells Fargo employees opened thousands of accounts for customers without their knowledge to meet sales goals. Larry Nassar remained in his position at Michigan State University and the USA Olympic team for years despite abusing more than 150 females in his care.   A youth pastor who counseled young people about drugs was arrested for selling drugs. What is happening to leadership?   Leadership is influence. We lead those we influence. Christian leaders do not always occupy of

Many Christians feel like the cow who saw a milk carton and wondered why her milk had to be pasteurized, homogenized, vitaminized, and fat removed. Her best was not good enough.   Do you ever feel like that? Is your Christian life going anywhere? Do you get more excited about twenty other things than about your relationship with Christ?   Jesus’ early followers considered Pentecost the anniversary of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. The Spirit’s coming at Pentecost conne

You do not want to irritate the One who spoke creation into existence. But the truth is that superficial Christianity that does not govern how professing Christians live angers, irritates, and disgusts God.   We want to remain in control of our lives and ask Jesus to solve our problems. Jesus is the Emergency Room physician, but usually, we handle life ourselves.   That is a symptom that we have the Sin-25 virus in 2025 or its mutation in any given year. We also have Long Sin

True worship is declaring God’s worth and giving Him glory through words, attitudes, and actions as a way of life . Many call singing during the service worship, but if worshipping God does not continue outside the church sanctuary, it is very suspect inside it. The highest form of worship is striving to be like Jesus .   We build the superstructures of worship on the foundation stones of Scripture. Only those who by grace through faith have become God’s children can truly wo

We already have expertise in unbiblical worship. We have years of practice. It has filled every corner and crevice of our being. The ruts of misdirected worship have trapped our wheels.   We unknowingly revealed it when our words and actions expressed more praise, thanksgiving, devotion, and commitment to people or things than to God. We have rarely recognized them as idols, but they have usurped God’s place of preeminence and monopolized our attention.   Scripture is to wor

God Keeps His Promises and So Should We   Comedians do not have a monopoly on one-liners. Our prayers are one-liners when danger leaps in front of us out of nowhere. We cry, “Help!” Usually, we put all of ourselves into it. There is nothing half-hearted about them. During a crisis, King David cried, “Help, Lord” (Psalm 12:1).   David could not depend on others to keep their word. Time has not changed much. Ungodly people still use words to manipulate rather than communicate.

Picture yourself at the bottom of the deepest ocean trench under 36,000 feet of lies. That is reality. “ Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning” (Jeremiah 9:5 NIV).   People pattern themselves unconsciously after the father of lies (John 8:44). Their words are weapons to get what they want. Politicians state the “truth” in ways that support their grip on or pursuit of power. With a few exc

Almost two thousand years ago, Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). For some, it is the ever-changing fuzziness of whatever they want it to be. The Bible says Jesus is the essence of truth (John 14:6, Ephesians 4:21). He alone is the way to the Father and abundant life.   Those who live with another focus are not people of the truth, no matter how honest and moral they seem. People of the truth seek God’s glory.   All others seek their own (John 7:18). By defau

Without light, you would not be reading these words. I could not write them. Even if I could, you could not read them. Your eyes are useless without light. Furthermore, a dark world would have no food or water to sustain you.   A dark Earth would be unimaginably different. You would not be here. Neither would all living things--from the magnificent blue whale to the microscopic amoeba. Light spawns life.   The earth was once formless and empty. Darkness blanketed the oceans (

The Stable Path   If we heed evil advice, we will eventually live as evil people do. They will tempt us to adopt the most fatal of evil...

The purpose of life is to love the LORD and others with the resources God entrusts to us. The by-product of such a life is the top-shelf,...

What is better than being able to speak six languages? The ability to keep your mouth shut when your tongue is about to veer out of...

Benedict Arnold betrayed his country by offering the military fortress at West Point, New York, to gain a British military commission and...

Am I a Christian? Is Jesus in my life? Will I go to heaven when I die? Doubts plagued my teen years. I had no assurance that I was right...