February 17, 2022 | Philippians 3:10-11 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Scientists think they’ve identified the part of our brains that responds to familiar faces. An area known as the temporal region may be connected to the way we recognize faces. Perhaps this is what allows us to know people when we see them. I want […]
February 10, 2022 | Philippians 2:9-11 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Writing a story is like climbing a mountain. The author takes the reader on a journey up the mountain, adding one detail on top of another. But the most pivotal action happens at the very peak, what we call the climax. The gospel story ascends […]
February 9, 2022 | Philippians 2: 7-8 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue English Reformer Miles Coverdale described the essence of Christ’s humility in this couplet: “For our sake made he himself small/That reigns Lord and king over all.” The order is important. Jesus already existed as “Lord and king over all” when He was born in […]
February 8, 2022 | Philippians 2:5-6 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue when I am sitting quietly, my wife will smile and tell me what I am thinking. She is almost always right. We truly know someone when we understand the way they think. In today’s passage, Paul opens a window into the mind of Christ and […]
May 20, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 5:25–28 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Nowadays, we authenticate or verify as genuine a person’s identity through such means as government-issued picture ID cards or notarized signatures. Higher standards of proof can be met by fingerprints, retinal scans, or DNA matching. These techniques were not available in the ancient world, of […]
May 14, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The “Day of the Lord” is portrayed in Scripture as a day of fear and trembling, justice and judgment. On that day, God will come as a Mighty Warrior and conquer the nations (Joel 2:1–11; Zeph. 1:14–16). The Day of the Lord is a recurring […]
May 6, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 2:13–16 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When Paul arrived in Thessalonica, he presented the gospel first to Jews in the local synagogue, as he often did. Some believed, but others responded with hostility, stirring up mob violence and driving the apostle out of the city. When he moved on to […]
April 29, 2021 | Ephesians 3:14–21 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Robert Munger, a Presbyterian minister, once wrote a small booklet titled “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” In story form, he depicts Jesus being welcomed into our heart as a guest. As Jesus explores each room, and even the hidden hall closet, Munger makes the case that […]
December 28, 2020 | Colossians 1:15–20 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When live sports shut down earlier this year due to COVID-19, ESPN aired a documentary entitled The Last Dance. It focused on Michael Jordan who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles. The storyline declared Jordan to be the GOAT (Greatest of All-Time), among […]
December 22, 2020 | Luke 1:26–38 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue When the angels appeared, delivering an important announcement, they were fulfilling a Messianic prophecy: “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel,” meaning “God with us” (Isa. 7:14). As the […]