I pray that I have used it well — Today I turned sixty. To put things in perspective, the current life expectancy in the United States as of this writing is just shy of seventy-nine years old. Curiously, for some reason, in Kansas, where I live, it is a few months shorter than average but I don’t plan on…

How God’s grace surpasses any gift we could ever envision — I recently wrote a piece on the mercy of God entitled Not Getting Everything You Deserve. In it, we found that mercy, or not receiving justified punishment, keeps us from being condemned to Hell. Today I want us to look at a different component of this equation that was touched…

Nobody ever wants to feel guilty; but does it serve a purpose? — What is guilt? To simply define it, guilt is both a cognitive and an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes that he or she has violated a moral standard and is responsible for that violation. In essence, it is the knowledge, or at least the belief, that a person has done…

I doubt it — There is a story about a king who, knowing that he was close to death and realizing that his son succeed him soon, considered how he would leave behind a legacy that would not only be remembered but could be replicated and help the people of the land prosper. He…

Three things can happen, and they are all amazing! — Jesus used examples in the Bible to explain things that the people of the day would understand. This is one reason why in a culture that was greatly agricultural, at least six of the parables He told in the Bible are about farming in one way or another. Over a…

When you count to three and nothing changes. — Almost all of us have been on at least one side of the following statement; many of us on both, “I’m going to give you to the count of three! One…two…” Almost never, however, does the dreaded “three” come. Where did it all start? Did you ever wonder where it started? Why three? Why not…

What goes through my mind when the alarm sounds? — What turns over my ignition? I have a preset alarm that goes off every morning at seven o’clock. My phone vibrates and a soft voice says, “It’s seven o’clock, time to start a new day!” I am gently nudged and reminded of new adventures ahead. With that encouragement, my sixty-year-old body somehow has the energy…

A death that would bring everlasting life — My name is Felix, which I am told means “lucky”. Just how luck plays into my life today is beyond me. I am an immune, a soldier in the Roman army, charged with a duty that should be routine but is somehow unsettling. Why is this man so different? Crucifixion…

For that matter, are they still being counted? — Discipleship defined Merriam Webster defines discipleship as “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another” This comes from the Latin word disciplina which was a pupil or learner. …