Author: S&P

The name Josiah in the Bible means “Healed of the Lord” or “The Lord will Support,” according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary. In his day the Lord did indeed bring healing and restoration to the people of Judah. Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king of Judah. His father had been wicked, as had the Jewish kings and culture for generations before him. “In the eighth year of his reign,” Script...

While jogging early this morning, I found myself humming the tune Bob Hope immortalized during several wars. I can still remember his tailor-made lyrics, fitted to each occasion. He sang them to lonely soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines from steamy jungles to frozen reservoirs . . . from the decks of aircraft carriers to makeshift platforms on windswept sand dunes. As guys and gals in uniform ...

I think the Apostle Paul should’ve been worried. In 62 AD (or so), Paul was languishing under “house arrest,” awaiting a trial to determine whether or not he’d be killed for his faith in Christ. The deranged Emperor Nero was to be his judge—a man who’d already executed his own mother and who’d very soon orchestrate the cruelest persecution of Christians in history. (In fact, Nero did indeed order ...

Saturday, June 29, 2019 Why Are You Here? Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever and ever, praising your greatness from generation to generation. (Psalm 79:13) I was speaking with a Christian man who had recently had a surgery done. He could have died in the process of it, and the experience had made an impact on his life. He told me that he worked in sales, but he ...

In first-century Israel, Sadducees were a religious faction that wielded societal power in nearly every aspect. These men hated Jesus and were the Jewish aristocrats of their day, known as much for their wealth and corruption as for their religious devotion. Sadducees Definition In first-century Israel, Sadducees were a religious faction that wielded societal power in nearly every aspect except mi...

I can’t remember when I first heard the phrase, “The problem is never in the room.” Here’s the context: You are talking with someone about a problem – a ministry that isn’t growing, a child who isn’t behaving, a wife who isn’t feeling cherished, a pattern where they keep getting fired – … and the problem is never in the room. Meaning, they are never the one to blame. They are never the cause, neve...

The PBS documentary series Cosmos is back, retooled for a new era. A few days ago, host Neil deGrasse Tyson (the heir of Carl Sagan) talked with political commentator (and former Southern Baptist minister) Bill Moyers about the question of whether the universe ought to make us feel small.Tyson says no. Moyers’ question is a good one, especially in light of the series’ attempt to show us ...

June 28, 2018What Difference Does He Make?Sharon Jaynes Today’s Truth And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17 NIV). Friend to Friend If you were going off to war, and knew you’d be put on the front lines and probably wouldn’t be coming back home to your family, what would you tell them? Think of th...

The Enneagram, as well as being a nine-point geometric figure, is a now well-known, nine-point personality test developed by George Gurdjieff, Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo and others. According to Cron and Stabile’s The Road Back to You, Naranjo, a psychiatrist from Chile, “brought the Enneagram back to the United States” and introduced it to a group of students, one of whom, Father Robert ...

The Lord hath sent strength for thee (Ps.68.28, PBV). The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be”—streng...