“Wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:13) When Jesus spoke those words, he was talking about a woman who had honored him by pouring perfume on his head. When I heard them recently, I thought about Cassie Bernall, a 17-year-old junior at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. How many of us would admit to being a Christian when a gun is aimed at us, knowing full well that a “yes” means death? […]

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33) I was recently involved in a misunderstanding that has turned out to be a real source of embarrassment. The particulars are not important because the embarrassment that I experienced had nothing to do with the nature of the misunderstanding. I was embarrassed because the circumstances that surrounded the incident make me look as if I was the […]

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” (James 1:2) If you love computers, you’ll always remember 1995 as the year that Microsoft introduced its powerful new operating system, Windows 95. Well 1995 wasn’t just a watershed year for Microsoft. It was quite a year for me, too. I turned 42 in 1995. That birthday and the spiritual experience I had during that long, hot summer four years ago inspired me to label those three months as my “Summer of 42”. Oh It was […]

“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 […]