When the Pharisees and scribes ask Jesus for a sign, he answers that “an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale [or “great fish”], so…
A typical greeting card includes an imparted wish for happiness in the coming year. Many people, though, don’t know how to be happy. Every year they tramp along in the same old rutted road of self-pity and discontent. But it doesn’t have to be this way. According to researcher Dr. Martin Seligman, author of Authentic…
On a religious radio program aired several years ago, a woman described her father in the following way: “I know my father is saved. I know he’s going to heaven. He is a very arrogant person, though. My parents divorced when I was an infant, and he has had little to do with me since…
[Since some of us want a copy of the short piece shared in my morning message on April 5, it is given below. The reading (which I have modified somewhat) comes from a sermon presented by S. M. Lockridge.] It’s Friday. Jesus is praying. Peter is sleeping. Judas is betraying. The council is conspiring. The…
America’s moral strength is waning fast, a point that disturbs our sensible citizens. However, the U.S. economy remains strong, and the military is the best in the world. As long as the sun is still rising and setting, as long as life goes on as usual, most people will eventually accept the morality meltdown and…
The apostle Paul was a prisoner on a large ship headed for Rome. But a violent storm had driven the vessel off course and was threatening the lives of the 276 persons on board. Luke, one of the travelers, recorded that “neither sun nor stars appeared for many a day” (Acts 27:20). A cold and…
At some point in his or her Christian experience, a tenderhearted disciple (especially a person battling anxiety) is apt to worry about the Lord’s denunciation of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Have I committed this grievous error? Am I guilty of an “eternal sin”? One day Jesus healed a blind and mute man possessed by…
Marital conflict is inevitable. Disagreements arise because spouses have differing perspectives, needs, preferences, desires. Even happily married couples rub each other the wrong way, but they try to avoid the blunders that make marital friction worse. One of these mistakes is “the silent treatment.” When hurt or angry, some spouses (usually husbands) withdraw. They may…
When I was living in Indiana, I often heard an advertisement for an area casino. The radio commercial promised the moon—good food, friendly service, luxury suites for customers wanting to spend the night, and the chance to win big. Gamble with us, the casino was suggesting, and we will take care of you. A more…
A couple of weeks ago, my family and I rented and watched the movie God’s Not Dead. The film is about Josh Wheaton, a college freshman challenged by Professor Jeffrey Radisson, a militant atheist. The teacher demands that all his students sign a statement affirming that God is dead. When Wheaton refuses to deny his…