Before It's Too Late

Luke 12:19-20 (NET) - And I will say to myself, You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!" But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" I am fan of motor sports. The off season was finally over and the first trio of races to start the new season were finally here. I was watching Saturday’s Nationwide race from Daytona. As the laps ticked away you could almost sense that an exciting finish drew closer with each passing lap. Then on the final lap, the...

Preparing for Devotion

I'm often distressed at the disconnect between what God expects of me and what I deliver on an average day. "[W]hat doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"  (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)  Christ Himself expanded on this expectation:  "[T]hou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and...

When God Strikes a Chord

As a believer, the word "coincidence" is not part of my normal vocabulary. There are times when I notice a common theme running through posts among friends who are believers as well as ministers I follow online. This happened again just the other day. One of the thoughts I awoke with centered around the concept of "vision". Vision in the sense of how we foresee and plan for our spiritual future and that of others. As I read through various posts, I realized that this concept was running through the hearts and minds of many friends and ministers. This brought to my mind the words of Helen...

Love Story

Over the last two days we've observed both Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent and our remembrance of Christ's passion and resurrection, and St. Valentine's Day, when we celebrate romantic love. These events wouldn't seem to have much in common, unless one remembers that Christ's victory over sin and death climax the greatest love story ever known.Maybe due to the frequency of its telling, many approach the story of Holy Week and Christ's betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection mostly as a colorful tale involving things done...