“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” (Luke 10:41-42) I met a YMCA Executive recently who told me that YMCAs across the country are asking their boards to make sure that their appointed executives achieve some sense of balance in their lives. In other words, people should never allow their walks with the Lord, or their relationships with their families, to suffer at the expense of work. His story reminded me of a college professor of […]

“See my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.” (Isaiah 52:13) Michelangelo once turned to a fellow artist and said with frustration in his voice, “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures on the one theme of Christ in weakness, Christ on the cross, and most of all, Christ hanging dead?” he asked. “Why do you concentrate on the passing episode as if it were the last work, as if the curtain dropped down there on disaster […]

“What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?” (Ephesians 4:9) Dr. Luke tells us that Jesus died around 3:00 on a Friday afternoon, just a few hours before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. Funerals were prohibited on the Sabbath, so Jesus’ supporters didn’t have the luxury of time with which to plan a service. They had to hustle just to bury him before sunset. In fact, the Bible notes that they didn’t even have time to secure a tomb in […]

“Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” (Matthew 26:31) The one holiday that Christians can celebrate everyday is Easter. In spite of the trials that Christians face, we have hope every day of the year because of what happened at Easter. No one understood the hope that the Cross offers more than the Apostle Peter. He was one of Christ’s most […]