I have always been perplexed by the mixed responses from followers of Christ to the various instructions in scripture about submitting to rulers and authorities. It seems we tend to claim these verses when we like the elected official and ignore or explain away the instruction when we don’t.

Paul gives some valuable instruction about roles in the church we may not discuss enough. What should older men and women do to keep a church healthy?

As much as we like to think we can figure life out by ourselves and fix the broken pieces in us on our own, time and time again we fail. We are all in need of restoration.

Although both the Pharisees and the disciples wanted to see Jesus accomplish the same end, none of them understood the real reason for his coming.

We tend to think of this instruction of Jesus as applying most to those who serve far away where we can’t go. But every believer has the responsibility to be a disciple-maker in every area of their everyday life,

We remember Esther’s big “for-such-a-time-as-this” moment. But we need to think about all the less noted moments before that, moments that made this one possible.

Jesus was not the hero wanted and expected by those who first encountered him. But he accomplished his purpose in ways no one would have anticipated.

We all probably want the ones we love and, frankly, ourselves to be among the mature, because maturity brings the best chance at a healthy and purposeful life.

Timothy would soon be without his mentor Paul. He would also be facing new and more difficult challenges in his ministry, and his older and wiser mentor was trying to prepare him for the journey yet to come.

Just as Nehemiah’s detractors used fear to try to stop his work, fear may distract us from the work God has for us to do.

I don’t know exactly when I started repeating and praying these three verses. But for at least 15 years, they have been a part of my daily routine. They have reminded me why I don’t need to be afraid.

Experts say the problem is increasing, but Solomon’s ancient wisdom can help those trapped by burnout today.

I have tried to live in such a way that I heard the nudge from God telling me what to do next. I’m noticing today that Paul’s words to Timothy can help me figure that out in the future.

I think I’m experiencing contentment, and then some struggle falls into my lap or lands on my shoulders. But I can’t deny the good that comes with godliness with contentment.

People-watching can be fun, sometimes even educational. But the bigger question is what people see when they’re watching us!

The apostle Paul used many images to describe the purpose and function of the church. Each one of them can help believers understand how to be the church today.

With each new generation there seems to be a higher expectation that any and everything should be instant. But as I read Proverbs, I’m thinking about time in the development of wisdom.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you read your Bible daily, memorize all of the teachings of Jesus, and then live as if you have never heard of him?

He didn’t have a second of all or third of all, which I think establishes the point that Paul was really saying above everything else or above all things, this is the priority.

Comparison shopping may be good for our pocketbooks. But many other kinds of comparison can hurt us emotionally, psychologically, or worst of all, spiritually.