"Watch your life and doctrine closely"
I was working in the garage when my wife flung the door open. With tears in her eyes and desperation in her voice, she screamed, “James get in here!” Her sister lives in Hawaii and called to tell her that the whole island had received the following warning message on their phones: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT…
“Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea” (Psalm 106:7, ESV). The Psalmist is reminding himself and us about the goodness of the Lord. He’s thinking back to all the ways…
In the first three chapters of Ezekiel we see his call to ministry. Ezekiel was given a specific task for a specific time, but we can all learn from his call to ministry. When I say ‘ministry,’ I don’t just mean vocational ministry, although that is included. If you are a believer, you have a…
Disappointment is defined as “the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations.” We live our lives with expectations, whether we realize them or not, and when those expectations are not met we are frustrated and/or disappointed. The first three verses of Ezekiel give us the context of Ezekiel’s…
If he hurried, there would still be time. Word had gotten to Jesus that Lazarus was ill, possibly near death, and Jesus could make it if he left right away. But, he didn’t. In fact, he waited two days (John 11). Why did Jesus wait? Shouldn’t he have hurried to get to the friends he…
We all battle discouragement throughout our life. It might come about because of a situation we are dealing with or something we see on the news. Sometimes it cannot even be explained, we just wake up one morning and feel discouraged. When it comes, it hits us like a wave and floods our soul with…
My two-year-old son ran up to me, dripping wet, and said: “Daddy, this is fun!” Last summer, we spent a week visiting different DFW attractions. My kids were enjoying the splash pad at Legoland, and I was watching from a nearby table trying not to melt in the scorching Texas heat. As I watched them run…
It was all his fault, and he knew it. Jonah pleaded with the sailors to throw him over. He could see the fear in their eyes as the waves continued to pound against the ship. These sailors were seasoned professionals and had seen storms before, but never anything like this. This was something different, something…
It was 2:30 a.m. when we received a call. After months of training, house inspections, CPR certifications, and background checks, we were finally approved to be foster parents. Half asleep, my wife answered the phone. A five-year-old girl had been rescued from the hospital and was in need of a home, so we agreed to…