One of the unfortunate things about life in this wicked world is the fight that we as Christians face daily between our flesh and our desire to please God. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the church at Rome, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what …

I read with interest today a story in the news about a dolphin who could not help himself, so it swam to the only source of help it could find. The story was about a dolphin off the coast of Hawaii. The dolphin had become entangled in a fishing line. The fishing line came from …

In this world today great emphasis is placed on material possessions, wealth, and fame. We all want the nicest new car, a beautiful home, the finest of clothing, the latest electronic gadgets and devices, etc., yet NONE of these things will EVER bring true peace and joy. It boggles my mind how many times I …

You know the feeling when you’re watching a movie or reading a book, and the person in the story is about to do something or make a choice that you know isn’t going to turn out good, and you just want to YELL at them NO!! STOP!!! DON’T DO THAT!!! And we even sometimes find …

In Psalm 4, David asks “How long will you love what is worthless?” Most of us spend way too much of our time and our lives chasing after those things that are worthless in the end. Many people would argue, “Well, I’m just chasing the American Dream!” And there was a time, when I too …

When I was in college, I remember a man coming and giving a dramatic recitation of the book of Genesis. He had memorized over half of the entire Bible, and he recited from memory the entire book of Genesis with dramatic emphasis added to various stories and sections of the book. I was quite impressed …

Many years ago, an elderly farmer was in Washington DC, visiting his son, who was a United States Senator. When his son introduced him to the visiting Ambassador to Belgium, the farmer asked, “Sir, are you a Christian?” His son, being greatly embarassed, quickly changed the subject. A few months later, the farmer passed away. …

In Matthew 22:41-42 Jesus is having a discussion with the “religious leaders” and He asked them a simple question: “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he?”. Of course, the Pharisees, who were false teachers in that day, didn’t want to believe that Jesus …

A fictional story goes, that once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone …

Sometimes in our lives it seems God is completely silent. We pray and nothing happens. We read God’s Word and don’t find what we’re looking for. We seek for answers and seem to get nothing. We read in John chapter 11, the story about Lazarus. The story starts out, “Now a certain man was sick, …

A mall shooting in Oregon leaves 3 dead and then a school shooting in Connecticut leaves over 20 dead, most of them just young children. Where was God? Why did He allow these things to happen? I saw a question that asked, “Why didn’t God stop this?” and the answer given was “Oh, right, He …

A Tennessee pastor doesn’t believe in chance encounters. To him, every contact is an opportunity to share the Gospel. When he answers the phone, for example, and hears the person on the other end saying, “Sorry, I must have the wrong number, “ He responds: “Maybe not!” Usually there is a pause on the line, …

Long before the days of the automobile, when the wealthy traveled by horse and carriage, there was a very rich man who’s house was high on top of a mountain. His carriage driver was getting up in years, and the man knew he would have to find a new driver soon. So, he put an …

You may have read the story in the Bible about the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well outside her city. When she offered Him water from that earthly well, Jesus told her He could offer her “water” that she could drink of and NEVER be thirsty again. Of course, He was talking about …

“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpentry shop until he was thirty, and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. When the tide of popular opinion turned against him, his friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies. He was …

In the 8th chapter of the book of Acts, we find an interesting story about the Apostle Philip and an Ethiopian enuch. If you’re not familiar with the story, let me give you a brief summary of it. Philip was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. And the Bible doesn’t give the name …

How many times have we ruined an afternoon or even an entire day by allowing what we don’t have or what we’ve lost and can’t get back eat away at our thoughts? We see a person driving a new sports car, and we think, “Wow…I WISH I could afford that!”, and then that thought turns …

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” This exact verse is found 5 times in the book of Psalms. Psalm 106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 118:29, and 136:1 Most of the time we fail to stop and thank God for His amazing goodness and kindness to us. And then, …

The story is told of a mail carrier who lived in a village in Europe that had many rivers and waterways running through it. The mail carrier would use a canoe on his daily route to deliver the mail. Many people over the years asked him why he didn’t wear a life preserver or at …

Let’s suppose for the sake of illustration that we own a private jet. And we know a some other people who own private jets as well, but none of us know how to fly them. So, some of the other jet owners hire pilots for their jets and tell us awesome stories about how they …

Fritz Kreisler was a world-famous violinist who earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the …

Psalm 34:6-10 says, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them. O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear …

A kindergarten teacher gave all of her students a piece of drawing paper and some crayons and told them to draw a picture of their favorite person. She was walking around the room, and came up to one young boy’s desk where he was concentrating hard on the drawing he was creating. She asked him, …

In the early 1900’s a man was driving his Model T Ford outside of Detroit.  He was driving along when suddenly the automobile sputtered and stopped.  He opened the hood, and not knowing anything about automobiles sat there for over an hour trying to figure out what the problem was.  Soon another Model T pulled …

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Even he had the same problem we all face – our flesh, temptations, and our selfish desires to deal with. And as a human, …

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” One of the biggest mistakes people make when they decide to start changing their life by following …

The Cathedral Quartet used to sing a song entitled “Sin Will Take You Farther”. The chorus goes like this: Sin will take you farther than you wanna go Slowly but wholly taking control Sin will leave you longer than you wanna stay Sin will cost you far more than you wanna pay Every time I …

I stopped at an ATM the other day to get some money out. When it dispensed the amount of cash I asked for, a message came on the screen that said “PLEASE REMOVE ALL OF YOUR CASH”. I said, “Well, DUH! You think I’m only going to take part of it and leave some?” Then, …

I saw a movie a while ago about a group of explorers that got trapped underground in a cavern and had to find another way out. When I first came across the movie, it said the movie was “based on a true story”, so I thought it would be interesting to watch. Well, in the …

In Matthew chapter 14, we find the story of the Apostle Peter and his encounter with true trust in God. Peter was in a boat with the other disciples out on the stormy sea. They saw Jesus walking on the water towards the boat. Peter called out saying; “Lord, if it is You, command me …