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There is a section of scripture found toward the end of Romans chapter 2 (verses 25-29a) in which the topic has to do with how our actions reveal the condition of our heart a lot more effectively than do our appearances. That section ends with this beautiful phrase: “....whose praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:29b) I recently observed the wife of a young man over whose soul I watch as his pastor as she publicly praised him for his excellence as a husband. I pay attention to this young couple and I, too, have seen what she sees: that this man loves her and is an excellent husband to her. (I have also observed her excellence as a wife which was exemplified by her praise of him.)

It’s Christmas time. One of the things that everyone experiences at this time of year is the smells of Christmas. Cookies. Turkey or ham. Pumpkin pies. Cinnamon. Pine trees. I’ve been remembering smells lately. I found some candies recently that remind me of my grandmother. She always smelled like those candies. I found the perfume my mom wore. Standing there in the perfume aisle of a store I took a whiff and was taken back in time to when she was still alive. Aren’t scents powerful? Smells are powerful and God uses them. Over 2000 years ago a young woman in her teens, a virgin, gave birth to a baby and then placed him in a manger. We all know that true story. What was that like for her? Wha

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them...." (Romans 12:6a) The primary arena in which I have grace is that I have grace to be me. I have grace to be me IN CHRIST. I do not have grace to be me and live like hell. If I choose to live like hell...i.e., to live and practice anything or any lifestyle that God forbids Christians to live.....I'm on my own experientially. God won't supply grace to rob banks, steal, lie, practice sexual sin, be a jerk.... If I were to choose any sinful lifestyle....I'll be wasting God's grace to be me in Christ....and I'll have to grunt through it as if I were all on my own. Oh, I COULD surround myself with others lik

It seems to me that there are two kinds of dissatisfaction that can work in people. It is my hope that by the end of this article what is written will have stirred up inside you the second kind of dissatisfaction. That’s right. I’m hoping you will sense extreme discomfort….but a holy sort of discomfort for which there is a holy way to satisfy it. The first got its start in the Garden of Eden and it has to do with a craving for something earthly that will somehow make our insides (our souls) better. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?’ And the

Do a search in your Bible someday for the term "church family." You won't find it. You won't even find passages or verses that communicate the idea. You will find passages that speak of Christians being ONE family...in Christ. "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become CHILDREN OF GOD, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:10-13) "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom THE WHOLE FAMILY in h