Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.(1 Sam. 8:19-20)                Have your kids ever begged you for something that you knew they wouldn’t like?  Maybe it was a gigantic sucker shaped like Spongebob Square...  Read More

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. (Luke 21:34)                To take heed is to pay attention to.  We pay attention to lots of things, don’t we?  We pay attention to how well our favorite football team is playing and the recruits that are coming in next year.  We pay attention t...  Read More

“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.’” (Luke 21:1-4)                Some people have no tr...  Read More

“But Hannah answered and said, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord.’” (1 Samuel 1:15)                Have you ever “borne your soul” to someone else?  Have you ever been so overcome with emotion that you desperately needed to get some things off your chest?  Maybe you sat with a friend and cri...  Read More

“Then He looked at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.’” (Luke 20:17-18)                Today we’re looking at a powerful passage from the Word of God.  These words of Jesus were directed at the Pharisees, but t...  Read More

“And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’  But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’” (Luke 19:39-40)                On the first day of the last week of His life, Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on the back of a colt.  The Scripture says the people were totally enamored w...  Read More

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6, 21:25)                Four times the Book of Judges tells us there was no king in Israel during those days (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25).  Two of those occurrences also add that “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  We need to think back and remember that by this time, Israel had been led ...  Read More

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34)                In 1980, presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan and his team used the slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again.”  The slogan resonated with the American people and Mr. Reagan became President Reagan by an electoral vote of 489-49.  The Clintons even utilized the slogan for President Clinton’s 1992 campaig...  Read More

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1)                If you were to ask most Christians to identify three biblical stories, I’m guessing the story of David & Goliath would come up again and again.  In his battle with the giant Goliath, David set himself apart as a great man of fait...  Read More

“Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, ‘What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?’ And the Angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?’” (Judges 13:17-18)                Maybe you’ve heard the story of Samson – the guy with the really long hair who was one of the strongest men to ever live.  Samson’s story is like a roller coast...  Read More

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.” (Luke 17:15-16)                We should all live with an attitude of gratitude, but if we’re honest we have to admit that sometimes we struggle with thanksgiving.  Sometimes we get so fixed on what we want that we forge...  Read More

The MOST DOWNLOADED Verse on the YouVersion Bible App in 2019 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6).According to Christianity Today, in 2019 YouVersion users read 35.6 billion chapters and listened to 5.6 billion chapters through its online and mobile Bible app. In all of this reading, Paul’s ...  Read More