One of the things that I enjoy doing is discovering the origin of words, finding out where our English words came from. One of the words that I think has a most interesting origin is the word “sophomore”. Becoming a sophomore in high school or college is a big step because it means you’re…
There’s something about singing that is profound and powerful. Social scientists tell us that music does something to human beings physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We are creatures that need to and love to be around music and participate in it at some level. Music has a powerful effect on the human soul. In…
“I just think God wants me to be happy. It’s never God’s will for his children to suffer.” I hear those statements frequently from Christians as they try to make sense of the character of God. Why would a loving God not want his children to be happy? And I understand the reasoning behind it.…
Good morning to all of you and, of course, Happy Mother’s Day to all of our mothers! This morning I’d like for you to be turning to the book of Esther. And, in just a moment, I’ll be reading what may seem to be a rather odd text for a Mother’s Day message. …
During the past few weeks, during our extended stay-at-home orders, there’s a phrase that I have heard quite frequently. I used to hear it a lot when our kids were growing up and I still hear it from a lot of children, but I’ve been hearing it more and more from adults. The phrase is,…
There’s a great debate that has been going on for quite a while in this country. People like to argue about it on TV. Some of you have probably gotten into this argument at your workplace. The question is this – Who’s the greatest basketball player of all time – Is it Michael Jordan or…
I’ve told the story before of Hernan Cortez. In 1519, that Spanish explorer sailed to Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat all the warriors of the Aztec empire. The interesting thing was how he was able to…
One of the things that is so impressive to me about the Christians of the first century is how they were able to maintain their spirit of joy in spite of the hardships they went through. There was joy even during times of persecution. And of all the things that should characterize God’s people, one…
There’s an old joke that I first heard on the TV show “Hee Haw”. Doc Campbell has a patient come to him who says he broke his arm in two places. Doc’s reply is, “Well then, stay out of them places!” But, you know, there’s something to that advice on a spiritual level. We sometimes…
This morning, I want us to pick back up with the study which we began back in January, going through the books of the Old Testament one by one, getting an overview of each book, and then looking at one of the key themes in that book. We’ve been using videos from The Bible Project…