December 2025 | Consecration (Josh. 5)
Circumcision is the custom of cutting the foreskin of the male genitalia as a religious rite. God gave circumcision to Abraham as the sign of His covenant with him and his descendants, commanding that every male child be circumcised on the eighth day. Circumcision was required for participation in t...Read More
A traveler in Africa complained to his guide,' there is no road, no path in this jungle'. We have lost our way. The guide replied, "There is no way. I am the way.".Our Lord is the Way. God does not furnish us with a detailed road map. The Scripture says, "You guide me with your counsel, and afterwa...Read More
In modern cultures, lust typically is associated with indulging in illegitimate sexual fantasizing. In the scripture. however,the word "lust' is sometimes used in a wider range of meanings.Lust can refer to an inordinate passion that rules one's heart. After Moses led the children of Israel in the d...Read More
Jesus sent his disciples as lambs among wolves. It suggests opposition, oppression, and obstacles. It was true in the past. It is true even today. The ministry of Jesus Christ is not an easy task.That is why the ministers of God maintain a positive attitude. They are not troubled or disturbed by obs...Read More
When we think of the functioning of the Holy Spirit in the creation of the world, we think of omnipotence. The Holy Spirit was omnipotent, or all-powerful.Out of the chaos that existed in the beginning, He brought cosmos. God spoke, and His Word had to be obeyed. The Spirit of God moved upon the des...Read More
Luke chapter 15 discusses three lost items: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Of these three items, the lost son is the only intellectual being, and his absence was deliberate and voluntary.First and foremost, we see him as a selfish and self-centered man who demands his father's asse...Read More
Moses once asked God, “If I go to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The god of your fathers has sent me to you and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them?”God Almighty said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM, sent me to you!”What does that mean? A Bible scholar defin...Read More
Acts chapter 17 describes Paul’s ministry in three cities and how some of the people in those cities responded to the Word of God. Paul and Silas traveled one hundred miles from Philippi to Thessalonica. Apostle Paul used to preach in big cities and made it a strategic place for the work of the L...Read More
Apostle Paul wanted to enter new territories for the Lord by traveling east into Asia Minor, after visiting the churches he had already founded. But the Lord closed the door.In His sovereign grace, God asked Paul to go west into Europe. Because of the new door that was opened for Paul, the destiny o...Read More
Spirituality Without Hypocrisy
In a prayer meeting, a gentleman prayed, "Thank you, Lord, that I am not like other ordinary people. They are robbers, evildoers, and adulterers. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. You can't find a man as gentle as I am, and I forgot to tell you that I am a Pharisee." It was a vain p...Read More
Acts chapter 14, begins with Paul's mission work in the city of Iconium. There Paul and Barnabas spoke effectively and many Jews and Greeks believed But the unbelieving Jews stirred up hatred and opposition but the missionaries, stayed on and witnessed boldly for Christ. God also enabled the me...Read More
One of the purposes of the church is to evangelize the world with the Gospel.In the great commission, our Lord Jesus Christ said, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commande...Read More
Apostle Paul with no grain of ambiguity demands Christians to "rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess.5:17) because it is God's will for all of us. 'Pray continually', means that we should be in contact with God at all times and in all places. Prayer is an ...Read More
Antioch was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire. So many cities are referred to in the Scriptures. Each town has its distinctive characteristics. Jerusalem is considered as a sacred city. However, no city on the entire planet has witnessed as much violence over such a long period as Jeru...Read More
Just like many of us, Apostle Peter had a problem that he was so ethnocentric. So he was hesitant to go to the house of Cornelius a Gentile. Therefore, God gave him a vision that drastically changed his perspective and ministry. God used a vision about food to teach Peter that the Gentiles were not ...Read More
People handle their issues differently. When there is a problem some try to cover up it. Some try to deny it, although denial doesn't solve their problem. Some others try to ignore it and many people become get panicky. It all depends upon the nature, beliefs, and personalities of people. Howev...Read More
A common phenomenon in nature is the "path of least resistance." Electricity moving through a circuit will always travel where it has the easiest route. Cars are developed aerodynamically so there will be minimal wind resistance. Rivers always travel around a mountain because it is easier than ...Read More
In the New Testament, one of the most common ways of referring to a church community is as a body - where all the parts need one another and no one part can carry out all the tasks on its own. We have different gifts with which to serve each other. God has designed it so that we are inter...Read More
According to David Jeremiah, in 1981, Albert started working at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburg, cleaning and polishing shoes for $5 a pair. Satisfied customers often tipped him, usually a dollar or two. One Christmas, a customer gave Albert $50 for shining one pair of shoes. Big tips like...Read More
There are many references about the vine in the Scriptures. In the book of Genesis, we read that “Noah proceeded to plant a vineyard”.In the book of Judges, Jotham speaks of various trees in a metaphor criticizing the appointment of Abimelech as king over Israel. In this metaphor, he identifies ...Read More
The Good, great, Chief Shepherd
The symbolic relationship between the Israelites and Jehovah as the sheep and the shepherd is a sublime topic in the Holy Scriptures. Asaph, the Psalmist writes, "Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth" (80:1) It ...Read More
Loving Jesus is easy to do. When you read about His earthly ministry in the Gospels, it's impossible not to fall in love with Him. He speaks the truth boldly and bluntly. He trashes the legalists who controlled the religious establishment. He forges deep, rich relationships with His disciples. He sh...Read More
In the Antarctic summer of 1908-09, Sir Ernest Shackleton and three companions attempted to travel to the South Pole from their winter quarters. They set off with four ponies to help carry the load. Weeks later, their ponies dead, rations all but exhausted, they turned back toward their base, ...Read More
Pahom, who in his lust for land forfeits everything, is a fictitious character by Leo Tolstoy. His possessive nature creates enmity and causes arguments with his neighbors.To quench his passion for land he decided to move to a new commune and was introduced to the Bashkirs. Pahom goes to them to buy...Read More
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of reality. 'What is ultimately real?' is the basic question asked in the study of metaphysics. While the physical reality is the purview of epistemology, ultimate reality is the purview of metaphysics.'Metaphysics ' is a transl...Read More
Our Lord Jesus Christ was a man of prayer!He prayed at His baptism, before He chose the twelve, when the crowd increased, and at His Transfiguration. His disciples knew that He often prayed alone.If Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, had to depend on prayer, during the days of His flesh, then how...Read More
It is not always possible, nor is it necessary to minutely distinguish the work of the Holy Spirit from that of the Father and the Son. God is One and the inter-relationship between the various activities of each Person of the Godhead is so close that we cannot always discern one from the other.&nbs...Read More
We all have many things to be thankful for.Michael P. Green shares an imaginative story of a day when the sun did not rise.Six o'clock came and there was no sign of dawn. At seven o'clock, there was still no ray of light.At noon, it was as black as midnight.No birds sang and only the hoot of an owl ...Read More
Pala is an important commercial and educational center in Kottayam district, Kerala, India. A few days ago a young man killed his fiancee on the college campus for jilting him. The gruesome and disgustingly horrendous act of slitting her throat and causing immediate death unnerved the campus and the...Read More
Thomas Jefferson culled out all moral teachings of the first three Gospels and gathered them into a book called 'The Life and Moral Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth'.The book ends, "And they laid Jesus in the tomb and departed. By contrast, George Washington's epitaph contains the words of John 11;25....Read More
A boy asked his mother.Mom, at what age do people die?The mother said, go to a nearby cemetery, read all the gravestones:The boy came back and said. People can die at any age.True, whoever comes to life must drink from the cup of death.It is so sad that people die at an early age regardless of their...Read More
Joyful Noise Unto Him with Psalms
The Westminister Shorter Catechism, an important product of the Assembly, asks and answers one hundred four essential questions which form the basic tenets of the Christian faith.Profoundly the first question asked is "What is the chief end of man?" We might rephrase it, "What is the purpose of man?...Read More
The Bible clearly says that a woman is a helper, suitable for a man. Helper means one who helps or assists.In a general sense, women do not like to be known as a helpmate, assuming it as an inferior position. But, it is interesting to know that the Holy Spirit is regarded as a 'helper' in the Scri...Read More
In John chapter 4, we see our Lord Jesus Christ ministers to a variety of people.The sinful Samaritan woman, the Samaritan people who trusted in Him, a nobleman and his family, and finally his disciples.On his journey to Galilee, he had to go through Samaria and, He arrived at Jacob's well and...Read More
Cross - The Magic Mantra of Our Mission
These lines are written in the wake of an investigation on two major mission organizations in India.The allegations are not trivial. On the other hand, Christians who share the same faith quarrel on the street just to safeguard their vested interests.To top it all, the moral degradation of priests a...Read More
A year of great expectation, 2020 came to a close, discounting all expectations. We are in the threshold of a new year, it is a year of New Hope, even though the uncertainty of 2020 still continues. However, it is a time of a new beginning.Often a new beginning requires us to do a survey of sorts ...Read More
2020 was a year of great expectation:The whole world thought 2020 would mark a leap in human history.But how will history mark 2020?A year of:Universal restlessness.Universal hopelessness.Universal helplessness.Are we Christians any different? Not much.However, there are Christians all over the wor...Read More
I still remember the days of State of Emergency in India, between 1975–1977. There was widespread criticism against it, and it was true that it jeopardized human rights in some parts of India. The superpower of the Government and Police was misused by some Politicians and Administrators. But a...Read More
Three major powers - the Moabites, the Amorites, the Meunites joined together and formed a vast army and came against Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. He was really in trouble and it was at quite an unexpected time. He was literally in a vicious circle. We know people react to their proble...Read More
By the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion, There on the poplars, we hung our harps... How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" ( Psalms 137 : 1- 4)It is believed that this Psalm is written toward the end of the second exile and the author is very n...Read More
It was a Sunday. History refers to it is the Palm Sunday. Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of Lords traveled to Jerusalem on a colt. It was the fulfillment of a prophecy foretold by Zechariah. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your King...Read More
Divine healing is a major theme in the Scriptures - an important topic in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first case of divine healing recorded in the Bible is, "Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, fo...Read More
According to an October 29, 1994, story from the Reuters news agency, a Chinese woman named Zhang Meihua began to suffer mysterious symptoms when she turned twenty. She was losing the ability to nimbly move her legs and arms. Doctors could not find the cause and the symptom continued. Two decades pa...Read More
About the Holy Spirit, the Nicene Creed says:" We believe in the Holy Ghost, who is the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and Son, is worshiped and glorified, who spake by the prophets".Since we live in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, It is very importa...Read More
The Jews baptized Gentile converts, whereas John the Baptist baptized the Jews.His baptism was authorized from heaven. It was not something John devised or borrowed. It was a baptism of repentance, looking forward to the Messiah's coming. His baptism fulfilled two purposes: it prepared the nation fo...Read More
In 1997 Timothy Mcveigh was convicted of bombing the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. During the trial one of McVeigh's old army friends testified in court and made a revealing observation about human nature. According to Jo Thomson in the New York Times, the friend said, " I h...Read More
It all started by Jesus calling a few men to follow him. Remarkable as it may seem, Jesus started to gather these men before he ever organized an evangelistic campaign or even preached a sermon in public. Men were to be his method of winning the world to God. In the words of Robert E. Coleman, "The ...Read More
Pentecost means 'fiftieth' because this feast was held fifty days after the Feast of First fruits. It reads in Leviticus, " You shall count fifty days to the year after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves...Read More
The Bible without equivocation claims that God is holy.Isaiah 6:3 provides the most potent declaration. The prophet Isaiah at the moment of his calling received a vision of the Lord sitting on His throne with seraphims on either side and one seraph called to the other seraph and said, "Holy, holy, h...Read More
Morality is the quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct or a system of ideas that fall into these same categories. Therefore, morality describes the principles that govern our behavior. Without these principles in place, societies cannot survive for long. In today's w...Read More
The trial and death of Jesus Christ revealed both the wicked heart of men and the gracious heart of God. When men were doing their worst, God was giving his best. The Cross is the perfect finishing point of Jesus Christ in His act of atonement for the remission of human sin. The Cross is the exact ...Read More
A man given to drink once said to a preacher, "After all, Jesus turned water into wine"! His reply, "If you use Jesus as your example for drinking, why don't you follow his example in everything else"? Sincere Christians consider verses such as Rom.13:12 and 13 and I Cor. 6:9 and 10, which read...Read More
You are the Light of the World
Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare. It was written between 1603 and 1607, during the reign of King James 1, of Scotland. The first characters we see in the play are the three witches. They talk to each other in a mysterious way and agree to meet with Macbeth on the heath. This scene in...Read More
H.G.Wells, an English novelist and historian was not a friend of Christianity. In fact, his biographers portray him as either a skeptic or an atheist. However, his five volumes on world history contain information about Christ than anyone else in human history. According to Tim Lahaye, " beyond all ...Read More
Money is the God of this world. Some scholars think the word 'mammon' comes from an Aramaic root meaning 'that in which people trust'. According to Warren Wiersbe, ' some people trust God, some people trust wealth, and some people try to do both. But when Jesus used the Aramaic word 'mammon', ...Read More
In his book, 'Man's Search for Meaning', Victor Frankl, a successor of Sigmund Freud at Vienna, argued that the "loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect on man." As a result of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Frankl contended that 'when a man no longer possesses a motiv...Read More
John Izzo is a bestselling author who holds advanced degrees in religion and psychology. In his book, "The Five Secrets You Discover Before You Die" he has interviewed over 200 people, ages 60 -106, each of whom was identified by friends and acquaintances as 'the one person they knew who had found h...Read More
George MacDonald wrote, 'Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.' The name that Jesus gave to this practice is 'hypocrisy', which simply means wearing a mask, playing the actor. Many churches are turning to be places of hypocrisy as i...Read More
Two thousand years ago a stark cross was reared against an Eastern sky, with a man dying on it. Did ever any failure or defeat seem more complete than that?Since then proud empires have crumbled into ruins leaving nothing but a few moldering stones in a field where rabbits breed and feed. But the ma...Read More
An open heart cannot maintain a closed hand. If we appreciate the grace of God extended to us, we will want to express that grace by sharing with others. True ministry means giving, not getting. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: "it is more blessed to give than to receive". Although these words are not ...Read More
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty
In the year that King Uzziah died,I saw the Lord, high and exalted,seated on a throne, and the trainof his robe filled the temple. Above himwere seraphim, each with six wings:With two wings they covered their faces,with two they covered their feet,and with two they were flying. Andthey were calling ...Read More
The Gentile nations had their temples, priests, religious laws, and sacrifices, but only the nation of Israel had the glory of the true and living God dwelling in their midst.Apostle Paul writes, " For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of...Read More
In his book 'Count It All Joy' David Jeremiah, cites a poem that expresses the discontent so prevalent in our society.It was springBut it was summer I wanted,The warm days,And the great outdoors.It was summer,But it was fall I wanted,The colourfull leaves,And the cool dry air.It was fall,But i...Read More
Randy Alcorn is an author who has written extensively about heaven.The introduction of his book 'Heaven" begins with these words, "The sense that we live forever somewhere has shaped every civilization in human history." Australian aborigines pictured heaven as a distant island beyond the weste...Read More
It was towards the end of 2013 when Dr. Terry Grossman, the internationally renowned medical director of the Grossman Wellness Center in Golden, Colorado first began taking and recommending an all-natural, Swiss formulated cell therapy treatment called Celergen. Celergen is a potentially transformat...Read More
According to the Bible, mankind is distinct from all the rest of creations, including animals, in that he is made in the image of God.It reads in Genesis " So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them"(1:27). As God is tripartite - Fat...Read More
The word ''Bible'' comes from the Greek word 'biblos', which means "book". In a sense, the Bible is one unified book. God speaks with one voice throughout His book, calling us to accept His offer of eternal life and follow His commands.But the Bible is also made up of individual books. Thirty-nine (...Read More
It was at that obscure village he grew up, JESUS OF NAZARETH, the Savior of the world. It is so amazing that this solitary figure,'tender shoot' in the words of Isaiah, turned the world upside down.His teaching was so simple.His life was so humbleHis stories were so effective.his parables were so au...Read More
The "prodigal son" did not have a cell phone; and he had no access to the internet. He had not even heard about facebook and its unlimited possibilities.He lived in the cool atmosphere of a home under the shadow of his father's love and care - yet drifted away. WHY?It can also be said about the prod...Read More
In the city of London a fourteen year old girl succumbed to acute cancer. Her desire was to have her body preserved in the cryogenic system, hopeful that some day medical science would find a remedy for her disease and that the doctors would be able to bring her back to life.We can't blame that girl...Read More
Unlike the Old Testament, which describes and mandates the observation of a number of religious festivals in ancient Israel, the New Testament does not describe an annual cycle of Christian holidays.Nevertheless, from an early date Christians have observed a liturgical calendar commemorating events ...Read More
The Romans had a practice of lighting up their tombs. In several instances, gigantic candles or lamps were constructed with a fuel reserve that would last for centuries.It is recorded that fifteen hundred years after the death of Tullia, Cicero's daughter, her tomb was opened and a tiny lamp wa...Read More
It is with great pride we say that, "the India Pentecostal Church was registered in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh," suggesting it was not confined to the four walls of Kerala. At the same time we conveniently cover up the history of our work in A. P. and ignore the sacrificial service of many for the expans...Read More
O. Henry, in one of his short stories, tells of a little girl whose mother has died. When the father would come home from work, he would fix their meal, and then he would sit alone with his paper and pipe, put his feet on the hassock, and read. The little girl would come in and say, ‘'Father,...Read More
"An ethnic group or ethnicity is a popular group whose members identify with each other on the basis of common nationality or a shared cultural tradition". Ethnicity refers to cultural factors,including nationality, regional culture, ancestry and language. Race, however refers to a person...Read More
A number of names for God are found in the scriptures, for no one name, or even multiplicity of names can reveal all his attributes. The following words from the inspired pen of the prophet Isaiah is thrilling. "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Says the holy one. lift up ...Read More
Webster defines "name" as a word or phrase by which a person, thing or class of things is spoken of, known by or called.The Hebrews thought of names as being revelatory, as disclosing some attribute that was characteristic of the person named. For instance, the name Adam means, 'of the earth' or' ...Read More
"Man goes forth to his workand to his labor until the evening.O Lord, how manifold are your works!With wisdom you have made them all;the earth is full of your creatures. (Psalms 104:23,24) Work is not a curse.It is inherently good!The Bible opens with God and the first thing we read about God ...Read More
In His farewell message, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Later on, His beloved apostle Paul admonished his beloved son Timot...Read More
Psalm 29 ascribes to the Lord all power and authority over nature.The Canaanites worshiped natural forces such as wind and fire as their gods. But Israel worshiped The God of creation, not the creation itself. Thunderstorms, lightning, and floods were but means by which the Lord might express Himsel...Read More
Administration is a Spiritual Gift
Trying to define and understand the concept of administration has been the focus of research for countless decades. Many have sought to define the term,explain the theory, and provide a rationale for the activities involved.A few Christian authors have tried to contextualize the term theologically.&...Read More
Man is divided from man. Class from class: Gentile from Jew: nation from nation: ideology from ideology. In every man there is tension. Every man is a walking civil war, torn between the desire for good and the desire for evil. The reason being: man’s estrangement from God. The central t...Read More
In his ‘Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Luke’, the great bishop J.C. Ryle points out“It was not a woman who sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. They were not women who for sook the Lord in the garden and fled. It was not a woman who denied him three times in the high priest’s hou...Read More
Jesus never said his work was safe. Whether it is risking our reputation,or risking our life,serving the gospel requires courage.However, jeopardizing the liberties of others has become a norm in our society today. Some people in our community find pleasure in assaulting others. Obviously, it ...Read More
We live in a time when people attain physical maturity at an early age. A recent study reveals this clearly when it describes children's maturity age today is two to five years earlier than it was in the past.The age of puberty is has lowered. In the last century, human growth continued to an a...Read More
I don't consider myself to be a right person to write something about the internet and the unending world of technology, because I do not know much about it.Whether we know it or not, the technology revolution is here to stay. So we can't hide from it or pretend that it is not changing our lives.&nb...Read More
A few years ago I was involved in a car accident. A car that came from the opposite direction hit mine.The other driver came out of his car and started shouting and yelling at me, suggesting I caused the accident. He did not let me speak a word. It is a common practice in India where, finally, ...Read More
In the days of his flesh, Christ constantly asserted his own superior greatness among men. No man dared make the same claim. Familiar as he was with great saints in God’s portrait gallery, he could say of himself, “Behold a greater is here”.Herbert Lockyer writes, “He was greater than Abraha...Read More
The seventeenth century was a century of orthodoxy. Both Protestants and Roman Catholics were concerned with dogmatic formulation of their positions for the purpose of catechizing their adherents. Although some of this orthodoxy stressed Christian experience, much of it emphasized right thinkin...Read More
One of the greatest motivating factors for people throughout the world today is the quest for freedom, for self determination. Armies fight for it. Nations vote for it. Individuals work for it.Even though some people resist Christianity itself as an obstacle to freedom, Christians have histori...Read More
Scripture indicates that the universal church was born on the Day of Pentecost. Many theologians believe the church did not exist in Old Testament times. Matthew 16:18 cites Jesus, "I will build my church".This indicates that at the moment He spoke these words, the church was not yet in existence. S...Read More
Rightly Divide the Word of God
The books of the Bible were composed by human authors. But God himself superintended, directed and dictated the writing of the bible books, with the human authors so completely under his control that the writing is the writing of God.The Bible is God's Word in a sense that no other book in the world...Read More
It can't be denied that in every spiritual awakening in the history of Protestantism the impulse for Christian women to pray and witness for Christ in the public assembly has been found irrepressible. However, in spite of the liberating power of the Gospel strong prejudice against women's public min...Read More
"Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way". (1 Cor:14:40)This is Apostle Paul's concluding remark regarding the order of worship. There are three possible reasons for this instruction. Firstly, God is deeply concerned with the manner in which his people use the gifts and talents he has...Read More
A foreigner is a member of a group of people whose birth place is other than the location in which they currently reside. Genesis records God's covenant relationship with Abraham and His promise to create a vast nation from his offspring. Genesis ends with the death of Abraham’s great-grandso...Read More
It is easy for us to define history as, "History is the record of what man thought, said and done". But it is not easy to narrate history in an objective manner. The socialistic view is that "History is not the product of great men or chieftans, but it is the product of ordinary men in the pursuit o...Read More
"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers."(Eph.4:11) According to the Scriptures the first position of church leadership is the office of the apostle. There are those who say there are no more apostles in the world. For...Read More
From Perseverance to Perfection
'Aatujeevitham' (Goat life) is a malayalam novel written by Benyamin.It tells the story of a young man, Najeeb, who longed to go to the Middle East to find a good job and earn a decent living.He obtained a visa from a friend and went to Saudi Arabia.No one came to receive him at the Riyadh airport.I...Read More
In the famous story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus talks about how a priest and a Levite ignore the distress of an injured man who has been attacked and robbed on the road to Jericho.The man is eventually saved by a Samaritan, who tends his wounds and carries him on his animal to a wayside inn.In the ...Read More
Auschwitz is a terrible place.The worst of the Nazi death camps, where more than a million people lost their lives under the most appalling conditions. It was created in 1940 under Hitler’s orders, to deal with people considered undesirable - such as the Polish patriots and gypsies. When the Nazis...Read More
Is there any one who does not go through difficult times?The answer is, ‘No’. This answer generates another question, ‘Why?’The Bible gives us different answers to this question. The blind man referred to in John 9, suggests that our suffering is to reveal the glory and power of God in and t...Read More
Shakespeare’s character, Juliet, asks, “What’s in a name?” Actually, there is much in a name. A name indicates a meaning or an idea. A name defines character. That is why God changed the names of so many saints in the Old Testament. The name, “Christian,” has meaning as ...Read More
Late in the fifteenth century, two young wood carving apprentices in France confided to each other their desire to study painting. But this plan would take money, and both Hans and Albrecht were poor.Finally, though they had a solution. One would work and earn money while the other studied. Then whe...Read More
Christianity experienced phenomenal growth following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We learn in Acts 1:15 that about 120 Jewish believers in Christ gathered in Jerusalem. A bit later, after Peter’s powerful sermon, 3000 people became believers on the day of Pentecost. That historic se...Read More
A boy once asked his mother, “At what age do people die?” His mother told him, “Go to the cemetery and measure the graves.” After doing what his mother told him, the boy concluded that people die at all ages. The power of death is universal. It is no respecter of persons. It strikes down the...Read More
Ephesians 6:10–20 deals with the Christian’s armor. This passage certainly means that the Christian’s warfare is against more than just the natural temptations of his flesh. There are powers in the unseen world against which we are powerless except through the aid of Christ. Truth, righteousne...Read More
Three times a year all males in Israel were required to appear before God; at the feast of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Besides these, were the Feasts of Trumpets, and Day of Atonement. These feasts were designed to keep God in the thoughts of the people, and promote national unity. The sacr...Read More
Before discussing about the fivefold ministry, it is proper to consider what is ministry? Ministry in the Christian community is a participation in the ministry of Christ. It is the ministry of the Father through the Son by the Spirit. All believers are called to witness to the gospel, visit the ...Read More
Traditionally, a dying person’s words are taken seriously. This is certainly true in the case of Jesus, although in his case His dying words were not in fact final words, for he was raised from the tomb soon afterwards and said many other things to his disciples. According to Stephen Lang, th...Read More
The Gospels devote a large amount of space to the passive narrative and this in itself shows the great importance they attach to it. John, a disciple and an eye witness of the death of Christ relates how Pilate passed the death sentence to Jesus. It reads, “Finally, Pilate handed Him over to them ...Read More
An important lesson that the Lord’s prayer teaches us is the complete submission of the one who prays. William Barclay puts it this way, “Prayer must never be an attempt to bend the will of God to our desires, prayer always ought to be an attempt to submit our wills to the Will of God”.The sec...Read More
The phrases 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Kingdom of God' are found more than eighty times in the New Testament. The Kingdom of God is obviously an important subject. Several questions arise, however, in relation to the identity and manifestation of the Kingdom of God. What is meant by the word ‘Kingdo...Read More
From the beginning, the problem of heresy was present in the church. The Apostle Paul saw this when he wrote, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consc...Read More
It is human to love and to be loved. According to the Scriptures, we do not know what true love is. God our Father loved us and showed us how to love. John writes, "We love because he first loved us. This is how God showed His love among us. He sent His one and only Son to the world that we mig...Read More
There are many references about the vine in the Scriptures. In the book of Genesis, we read that “Noah proceeded to plant a vineyard”.In the book of Judges, Jotham speaks of various trees in a metaphor criticizing the appointment of Abimelech as king over Israel. In this metaphor, he identifies ...Read More
William Shakespeare's classical drama, Macbeth, reveals the ambition of Macbeth as he is spurred on by his wife, Lady Macbeth, ending with the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth orchestrates the plot to kill the king who sleeps in Macbeth's house, not knowing the evil schemes against him. Lady Macb...Read More