A place for you.

You know the trick. A magician fans a deck of cards out in your direction and bids you to, “Pick a card, any card.” There are so many choices. They basically all look the same, until you take one and look at the other side of it. While that card bears some similarities to others in the deck (maybe the same suit, or maybe the same number), it is still a unique card among many. But, in the game of…

Modern culture has created a mold for today’s young men and young women, and too many are allowing themselves to be poured right into it. Young people are depicted as self-absorbed, ungrateful, anti-social, materialistic individuals, who are given to a lifestyle of instant satisfaction, sexual abandonment and irresponsible behavior. (Notice, that is not my view, but how young people are often depicted by others in today’s society.) In the home, they are portrayed as “running the show”—knowing more than the…

Paul saw Christians as being athletes for Jesus. They were competing in the arena while they were surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1). They were individuals in a race which must be run according to rules (2 Tim. 2:5). They were fighters/boxers who were not just “punching into the air” but had precise blows planned for the enemy (1 Cor. 9:24). Like Paul, they intended to run the race and finish the course, knowing that a crown…

How many times in the last few days have you heard these words, “Happy New Year”? Probably far more than you can remember. These words may have various meanings depending on one’s background and their own personal values. Have you ever considered the spiritual aspects and implications of this phrase? Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount can so easily help us to see that the Bible speaks of happiness, not just at the beginning of a year, but…