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Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." - John 3:3 HCSB

Mbuzi was a very beautiful goat who was as vain as she was beautiful. Out of vanity, she decided to ask the wily Kachi, a chimpanzee who lived in a huge Baobab tree, how to become a lion. After much thought and great scratching of fleas, Kachi gave her the “Five Rules of Transmogrification”: (1) do what lions do; (2) say what lions say; (3) eat what lions eat; (4) wear what lions wear; and finally (5) go where lions go.

Mbuzi was very excited…  ( Click for more )

Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will have tribulation for 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. - Revelation 2:10 HCSB

My parents were missionaries in a country called Chad on the continent of Africa. They served there several years, establishing churches, starting a seminary, founding several elementary and high schools, and building dispensaries. They did nothing to harm the people and everything they could to help them. They tried to teach them…  ( Click for more )

May he (the king) vindicate the afflicted among the people, help the poor, and crush the oppressor. - Psalm 72:4 HCSB

At some point in their lives, nearly every Christian wonders how to reconcile the innermost feeling that justice demands retribution and the biblical passages that teach we should leave vengeance to God and turn the other cheek. What is the Scriptural view the Ransomed should take on retribution, self-defense and war?

First, you have to realize that much of the Old Testament still applies to us. Jesus came to fulfill the Sinaitic Law, not abrogate it.[1]…  ( Click for more )

Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34 HCSB

There once was an old man who lived in a small village. He was very poor and had one son that he loved very much. All they owned (besides the house they lived in) was a horse. It wasn’t much of a horse, but it was theirs and it helped them by carrying the firewood they would gather and sell.

One day there was a great storm and in its panic over the lightning, the horse kicked down part of the fence and ran away. The next day the…  ( Click for more )

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. - John 14:6 HCSB

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Hell? Early Egyptians referred to it as Tuat, situated under the earth. The ancient Greeks considered this lower world to be the realm of spirits. The Jews said that Hell originated just south of Jerusalem, where the filth and the wicked dead were cast out and burned. Italian poet Dante fancied this nether world to be a temporary Inferno several steps beneath Paradise. The Nation of Islam, led…  ( Click for more )

"This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned…  ( Click for more )

"Fill the jars with water," Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then He said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the chief servant." And they did. When the chief servant tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from--though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He called the groom and told him, "Everybody sets out the fine wine first, then, after people have drunk freely, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now." - John 2:7-10 HCSB

Transforming the water into wine was Jesus’…  ( Click for more )

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. So don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God - 2 Timothy 1:7-8 HCSB

Upton Diskson founded a society called the “Dependent Order of Really Meek and Timid Souls.” When you make an acrostic of its first letters, you have “Doormats.” The Doormats’ insignia is a yellow caution light. Their official motto is: “The meek shall inherit the earth, if that’s…  ( Click for more )

What should I bring before the LORD when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the child of my body for my own sin? He has told you men what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: Only to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God. – Micah 6:6-8 HCSB

Moses was certainly a virtuous man. There is much in him to admire and imitate. For one thing,…  ( Click for more )

“I always pray for you, and I make my requests with a heart full of joy because you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” Philippians 1:4-5

You may not be gifted as a missionary. You may never have to face the danger of martyrdom. It’s not everyone’s task to face the devil in his lair and send him packing through the power of the Holy Spirit. You may spend the entirety of your life safely within the confines of the state or county in which you were born. But you can take part in the great…  ( Click for more )

He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” Job 1:21

Once, a fox discovered a vineyard. It was completely enclosed by a wall, except for one small hole. When the fox tried to enter the hole, he discovered he could not. It was too small. So he decided to fast for three days until he became thin enough to enter through the hole. He began fasting and, after three days, was scrawny enough to make it. He entered the hole…  ( Click for more )

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. Mark 10:51

The Lord is still asking us that question. So many times I have been guilty of vague, open-ended prayers. These are the prayers of a coward. A coward makes his prayers nice and vague so that he can claim anything as an answer. He can use that same obfuscation to excuse the lack of effectiveness in his prayer. Either way, he’s covered himself.

In the French language, the verb “to love” and the verb “to like” are the same. This is surprising in a…  ( Click for more )

When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!" But his armor-bearer wouldn't do it because he was terrified. Then Saul took his sword and fell on it. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died. So Saul and his three sons died--his whole house died together. When all the men of Israel in the valley saw that the army had run away and that Saul and his sons…  ( Click for more )

And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take note of that person; don't associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. Yet don't treat him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. - 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 HCSB

Many of us have learned from our days in preschool that we are to be nice to everyone. “Don’t say mean things!” we are repeatedly warned. “Don’t you want to be his friend?”

But if being nice means empowering a wicked person to continue hurting others, then I choose to be antisocial. If friendliness comes…  ( Click for more )

These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. - Hebrews 11:13 HCSB

Hebrews 11 is sometimes referred to as the Great Hall of Faith. This chapter lists many of the greatest heroes and heroines of the Faith. We find such illustrious names as Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham. The first half tells of all the victories that these saints enjoyed, but then it tells us that they did all these things without actually receiving the promise. The promise…  ( Click for more )

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Even though our lord can see that the city's location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful." He replied, "Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it." After they had brought him one, Elisha went out to the spring of water, threw salt in it, and said, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it.'" Therefore, the water remains healthy to this very day according to the word that Elisha spoke. – 2 Kings 2:19-22 HCSB

Some men…  ( Click for more )

But Ruth replied: Do not persuade me to leave you or go back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do this to me, and even more, if anything but death separates you and me. – Ruth 1:16-17 HCSB

Goy is a biblical term that can be literally translated “nation.” Its use as an identifier for the Gentiles stems from its first appearance in Genesis 10:5. It is used in a different manner occasionally,…  ( Click for more )

Your presumptuous heart has deceived you, you who live in clefts of the rock in your home on the heights, who say to yourself: Who can bring me down to the ground? Though you seem to soar like an eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down. This is the LORD's declaration. – Obadiah 1:3-4 HCSB

Amazingly, Obadiah foresaw the possibility of space travel, warning Edom that even soaring like an eagle and making their nest among the stars was not a God-proof strategy.

It’s odd how often this concept of escaping God comes up in history.…  ( Click for more )

This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down; I have killed them with the words of My mouth. My judgment strikes like lightning. For I desire loyalty and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But they, like Adam, have violated the covenant; there they have betrayed Me. - Hosea 6:5-7 HCSB

From time to time, you will find people who will present you with false dichotomies. For example, they will say silly things like, “There is evil in the world. If God wants to do something about it and cannot, then He is weak and unworthy of my worship.…  ( Click for more )

(And if you…) are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having in the law the full expression of knowledge and truth-- you then, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach, "You must not steal"--do you steal? You who say, "You must not commit adultery"--do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob their temples? - Romans 2:19-22 HCSB

The calling of church elder makes some strenuous ethical demands:[1] honesty and fairness to…  ( Click for more )

When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. - Matthew 9:36 HCSB

Religious words that were used in common speech have now lost significance. One of the favorite biblical images, the shepherd and his sheep, no longer fires the imagination of urban people.

The word “pastoral” still lingers on in professional speech, but less and less does a modern, Western shepherd illustrate the qualities that a Palestinian shepherd of the biblical era showed. Modern shepherds have some of the ancient…  ( Click for more )

After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. - Matthew 14:23 HCSB

There is something particularly sacred about the private times we spend with God in prayer. There should be some prayers that are so intimate, so revealing that we cannot bring ourselves to share them with anyone but God. If we feel free to share everything that we have shared with God with other people, then perhaps we may want to consider that we might not be really getting down to business with God.

Imagine if we shared every moment of…  ( Click for more )

The LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. - Exodus 14:15 HCSB

Sometimes it is not prayer, but action that is needed. Prayer is an effective tool, but sweat and elbow grease must always accompany it. You’ve heard the expression that talk is cheap? Prayer can be cheap, too, if we use it as an excuse to get out of work or as a salve for our consciences when we fail to help someone.

How many times have we heard someone intone self-righteously “Father, help all the poor starving people in the world”? How many…  ( Click for more )

Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. - 2 Timothy 4:2-4 HCSB

Why do you attend your church? Is it because that is where your family has always gone? Perhaps you were raised in that particular denomination. However, denominations…  ( Click for more )