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As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him. – Mark 1:16-20 (NASB)

Being a disciple…  ( Click for more )

A young boy was once offered a paper route. It didn’t pay much money, but he knew having a job would build good character, so he took it, good character being important to fourth graders.

He began lingering on the front porch of one of his customers who was an elderly widow. She’d watch for him to come down her street, and by the time he’d pedaled up to her house, there’d be a slushy bottle of Coke waiting for him. He’d sit and drink while she talked.…  ( Click for more )

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love Him. - 1 Corinthians 2:9

There once was a princess who married a very wealthy commoner. He loved his wife and wanted to please her. So he bought her a huge mansion filled with the most expensive furniture money could buy. He purchased an exquisite wardrobe with each dress having been hand-made by the most famous designers. There were servants for every imaginable need.

However, while she smiled when he presented her with yet another gift, she never…  ( Click for more )

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35

A good man was walking on a beach on a hot summer day when he came across two children playing in the sand. Amused by their play, he paused to watch them. They were diligently building an elaborate sand castle. It had everything a fairy tale construct could desire: towers, walls, a moat and a draw bridge. The children even went so far as to begin building a…  ( Click for more )

It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:26-28

Long before humans began building mini-marts, 7-11s and parking lots, much of the Sierra forest was open and park-like. Huge tracts of sequoias towered over the land. Occasionally a fire would go through, clearing out the underbrush. Not only would the fire clean up the area, certain plants…  ( Click for more )

It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment – Hebrews 9:27

I live every day with the effects of a terrible tropical disease contracted while living in Africa. I am going deaf, am often completely crippled and live in constant pain. But one of the most vexing effects is to my heart. Because of the damage to my nervous system, I sometimes have arrhythmias. Someday, the signal to my heart may be so mixed up that it might simply stop beating.

So I go to sleep every night and awake every morning with the thought that my heart could stop beating at…  ( Click for more )

I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! I’d rather you killed me than treat me like this. Please spare me this misery!” – Numbers 11:14 -15

We saw how the Israelites were condemned by God for their arrogant whining. But just nine verses later, Moses whined and got help! How can that be? Why should the Israelites get scorched and Moses get saved? As always, context is everything.

Moses had to feed, water and shelter at least three and a half million people in the middle of a desert. It would have taken five hundred…  ( Click for more )

The people soon began to complain to the Lord about their hardships; and when the Lord heard them, his anger blazed against them. Fire from the Lord raged among them and destroyed the outskirts of the camp. – Numbers 11:1

The people of Israel had just been miraculously delivered from Egypt. They had been subject to systematic racism, considered second-class citizens, not unlike the “apartheid” in South Africa. Bigotry became slavery and they were forced to build Egypt’s storehouse cities. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the pharaoh ordered the midwives…  ( Click for more )

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. – John 1:4-5

There once was a very poor tzaddik whose church could not afford to pay more than a pittance, not enough to live on. So the tzaddik lived in poverty. Despite this the elder was always happily satisfied with his small portion in life. He would walk about in threadbare clothes with an erect posture, radiating joy.

He loved the Holy Scriptures and would seek out wise teachers so that he could improve his knowledge and understanding…  ( Click for more )

Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart: “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with smooth stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries – Isaiah 9:9b-11a

On September 12,2001, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle stood before the Senate and gave a speech decrying the 9/11 terrorist attack which included an unfortunate quote from Isaiah 9:10. Like many, he failed to note the context of that verse. It is actually a judgment on bravado!

Around 700 BC, the…  ( Click for more )

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Galatians 5:14-15

There were a pair of proverbial cats in Kilkenny, Ireland, who fought till only their tails were left. Most likely the story is a parable of a contest between Kilkenny and Irishtown, two municipalities which fought about their boundaries till little more than their tails were left creating this popular limerick:

"There…  ( Click for more )

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform. It is not up in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go to heaven and bring it down so we can hear and obey it?’ It is not beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear and obey it?’ The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. – Deuteronomy 30:11-14

We humans complicate things unnecessarily. Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment…  ( Click for more )

…You will tell people about me everywhere…to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

When man was first created, he was given a command intended for each succeeding generation. Men were to be fruitful and multiply and, while filling the earth, subdue it to the service of God (Genesis 1:28). After mankind’s depravity pushed God to destroy them with a cataclysmic flood, He reiterated to Noah His wish for us to fill the planet in Genesis 9:1. Instead, man decided in Genesis 11:4 to build a city and a tower whose top would reach the sky so that they would not be…  ( Click for more )

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

A wise man was walking through…  ( Click for more )

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'” - Matthew 6:9-13

The young couple was struggling as they tried to take care of their jobs, their home and their baby. So many important and necessary lessons had either not been taught or not been learned through their high school years and now they felt as though…  ( Click for more )

I once thought all these (self-righteous works) were so very important, but now I consider them worthless (KJV reads dung) because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ. - Philippians 3:7-8

Generally, dung beetles don’t get a lot of respect. They usually don’t get noticed by anyone not playing around in a cow pad. However, in tropical climes they can be extremely numerous and busy workers.…  ( Click for more )

There seems to be a loss of connection between what student nurses are taught and what they need when they work in hospital wards. They find it difficult to bring together and make sensible their theory (school of nursing) and their practice (hospital ward). This gap between theory and practice is not a situation confined to social work and nursing. The same problem besets those who work in…  ( Click for more )

We can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word. Acts 6:4

This decision by the apostles came at a time when the Holy Spirit was bringing thousands to the church daily. This growth brought with it very real logistical problems. Don’t you think they had babies crying during the services? Where would they get all the bread and wine for a communion service for five thousand people? Every day there were new widows and orphans to be taken under wing due to the persecutions. A million logistical and bureaucratic needs – all legitimate –…  ( Click for more )

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform. It is not up in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go to heaven and bring it down so we can hear and obey it?’ It is not beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear and obey it?’ The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. – Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Sometimes people come to me complaining about their struggle with sin. They talk…  ( Click for more )

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. – Romans 12:15

When you are with those who are grieving, do not judge and do not give them orders. Don’t tell how they should feel. Don’t try to tell them how they should deal with things. If they want to invest money in a larger coffin that you think is necessary, let them. If they want to paint a life-size picture of their loved one – let them! Socially acceptable grief does not exist. Grieving is how individual humans with unique gifts, talents, temperaments, psychological makeup and backgrounds…  ( Click for more )

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. – Romans 12:15

According to Paul, part of God’s will for your life is that you learn empathy. We are to rejoice with others when good things come their way. But we are also to grieve alongside them when the dark times come. Notice that Paul didn’t say we are to comfort them? That’s because comforting them would be in large part impossible.

There is no easy way to help. There are no clear-cut, three-step answers. There is no pill that can be taken, nor wonderful counsel that can be given…  ( Click for more )

The prayer of the upright is His delight. – Proverbs 15:8

What if your loved ones only communicated with you in prescribed, rote, memorized fashion? What if they never deviated from certain written phrases? No matter how eloquent the phrases, wouldn’t you be disappointed? If my children only addressed me when they wanted something and did it in a very formal, ritualized fashion (in old English) it would drive me crazy! “Our Father, who art in the living room, how handsome thou art today,” they might say. “Thy fatherhood be established, thy will…  ( Click for more )

There once was an old man who wore overalls and a straw hat. He smiled a lot and his smile matched his hat – old, crinkly and well worn. He never yelled at kids who played in his yard. His house sat on ten acres, and his life-goal was to make it a forest. He had some interesting theories concerning trees. He came from the “No pain, no gain” school of horticulture. He never watered his new trees. He said that watering…  ( Click for more )

Forgiveness is first granted, then felt. Christians frequently raise the objection that if you act forgiving without really feeling it, you are guilty of hypocrisy. But we find in Luke 17 that feelings are not a necessary ingredient of obedience.

Jesus began with a warning in verse 3: “Be careful of yourselves.” The warning was necessary; there are many ways to err about forgiveness. The warning is pertinent to many Christians who are caught up in the…  ( Click for more )