Lazarus had been in the grave for four days when Jesus miraculously raised him to life (John 11:38-44). The twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus was lifeless until Jesus reached down and took her by the hand (Mark 5:21-43). And, as the corpse of a young man was being carried out of the little village of Nain, Jesus appeared, reached into the open casket, and return the boy to his grieving, widowed mother (Luke 7:11-17). Jesus made dead people live again. In the Old Testament, G

How long have you been goin’ to church? Maybe you don’t have a perfect attendance pin, but you’ve been showing up on most Sundays for a long time. Right? Is there a brass plaque at the end of your pew? “These seats were bought and paid for by Mr. and Mrs. I. M. Phaithphul.” Every week. The same spot? The preacher would go cross-eyed if you sat somewhere else. You’re a church-goer. Your neighbor, the one who reads the Sunday Gazette on the patio, has memorized your comin’s and

Stephen was a man who enjoyed extraordinary intimacy with God! He encountered Jesus! He was a man of “good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3, CSB), chosen as one of the first seven deacons in the fledgling Church in Jerusalem. God blessed his ministry, “so the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number” (Acts 6:7, CSB). Stephen served in the church as a deacon, but he was also an evangelist who ministered publicly. “Stephen,

From his prison cell in Rome, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I am the worst of them. But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15–16, CSB). He recognized that he was “the worst,” or as it says in another translation, “the chief” of sinners (I Timothy 1:15, NKJV). Th

The Bible is History... His Story. The Holy Scriptures include the history of the universe; The history of mankind; The history of the Hebrew nation; The history of the church. His Story. In every book, every chapter, every encounter, our triune God is the hero and the central character. The Bible is the story of God’s encounters on earth. I’m fascinated by the circumstances surrounding these encounters. In each episode, God orchestrated events, moving pieces on the celestial

The Law of First Mention is an intriguing, fascinating and exciting tool useful for exploring the Bible and its truth. This week we have looked at the first use of particular words. One might also explore the initial occurrence of a theme, event, or truth. For example, the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible is found in the third chapter of Genesis. “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and y

In yesterday’s blog, we looked at the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. That’s where the word love is first mentioned in the Bible. Here, in Genesis twenty-two, the Hebrew word “shachah” is first translated worship. Remember the story. God commissioned Abraham to travel three days to Mount Moriah and there to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. At the foot of the mountain, Abraham said to his traveling companions, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over

Husbands... do you remember the first time you told your wife that you loved her? I remember. It was the spring of 1978, several weeks before Carla and I went on our first date. Carla was in college at Hardin-Simmons University where she would soon graduate. As a music major, it was the week of her senior recital. I had travelled two-thousand miles to Abilene to look at the school that I hoped to attend in the fall, or at least that’s what I told my folks. Sitting in the lobb

Life in the Garden of Eden was ... spectacularly, marvelously, perfectly ... perfect! And then it wasn’t. Sin entered creation, and with sin, death. The fifth chapter of Genesis is a genealogical record of mankind from Adam to Noah, ten generations spanning two millennia. Sadly, God’s beautiful creation spun quickly out of control, until God said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt” (Genesis 6:3, CSB). In fact, the “Lord saw that the wic

Students of the Bible have discovered something called the “Law of First Mention.” It’s not really a law, it’s more a rule of thumb. It suggests that the first time a word is used in the Bible, there is something powerful and wonderful to be gleaned from the passage. Often these occurrences, usually in the book of Genesis, reveal an important key to understanding how the word is used throughout the Biblical record. I truly believe that the Word of God is “living and active” a