“There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7) You can’t help but wonder what this “thorn in the flesh” was, but we know from Scripture that it kept Paul humble. It also ensured that his prayer life remained active. Theologians have offered a number of possibilities. Many have argued that Paul was talking about a speech impediment. There is some historical evidence that Paul was not a good speaker. Maybe he did suffer from stammering speech. […]

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” (James 1:2) History tells us that Thomas Edison invented the microphone, the phonograph, the incandescent light, the storage battery, movies with sound, and more than 1,000 other things. The truth is the quality of our lives has been immeasurably improved by the genius of a man who overcame dyslexia and found that there was a great deal to learn from the failures and trials that life brought his way. In 1914, the laboratory where many of […]

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. “ (Galatians 6:2) The law of Christ – just what does that mean anyway? I remember when Billy Graham spoke of the the mystery of evil during the memorial service held for the family members of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Evil is hard to understand sometimes. But for many of us, the law of Christ is a mystery, too. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul never explained what he meant when he used this expression in one […]

“After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.” (John 19:38) In spite of his role in the crucifixion story, we don’t know much about Joseph of Arimathea. The Bible has very little to say about him. But what it does record is a story of a miraculous transformation. We do know that he was […]