“Complacency kills”! … Those were the words spoken loudly in my living room four years ago during a men’s Bible study on the book of Revelation.  The brother–in–Christ who said them had served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Recon Marine on several dangerous covert missions fighting terrorism.  He went on to share that just…

This year, more than ever before, I’ve been meditating on the forty days after Jesus’ resurrection.  Focusing on what Jesus DID and what He SAID to His followers during this time period yields significant take–aways for how we follow Jesus twenty centuries later. In spite of Jesus’ repeated revelations of His resurrected body, His followers…

We are now just past the half–way point between Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost … only 14 more days until the Ascension of Jesus.  This 50–day period emerges as a focal point for disciple-building … “equipping & mobilizing men to follow Jesus.”  There’s much to learn from what Jesus said and what He did during this…

A close friend confided a few years back that he applied the “85/15 Rule of Learning” to studying the Bible.  I sat in stunned silence as he described how a person can learn “pretty much everything that needs to be learned” … or 85% … of any subject matter, by using only 15% of one’s…

Four years ago, God called “home” one of my mentors, Dr. Newton Wilson.  Newt hired me to teach at Belhaven College (now Belhaven University) in Jackson, Mississippi back in the summer of 1981.  What an amazing opportunity!  Those five years teaching in the departments of Bible and Christian Ministries remain as a significant and enjoyable…

We are now only two days removed from Resurrection Sunday … 48 days until the next major Christian holy-day … Pentecost … the “Feast of Weeks” … celebrated 50 days after the Resurrection of Jesus. Originally set aside as a harvest festival (Exodus 23:16), Shavuot, as the Hebrews called it, commemorated the day that God…

When celebrating Resurrection Sunday during the second half of the First Century, Christians would greet each other with “He is risen”!  The usual reply would be, “He is risen indeed”!  We continue that tradition today … in fact, 2 billion+ believers on our planet will exchange that greeting with each other throughout today … but…

Not long after Jesus fed 5000 men and their families on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, the narrator Luke writes a brief, but powerful statement. “When the days were approaching for His ascension, Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51) Jesus’ ministry in the region of Galilee is quickly…

Celebrating Palm Sunday means much more than children’s church parades and waving palm fronds. Let’s remember that this day not only … … Marks the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11  •  Mark 11:1-10  •  Luke 19:28-40  •  John 12:12-19) … Sets in motion the events of “Passion Week” But this day also…

Ask any of our three grown children about my favorite goodbye phrase … the one I’ve signed off with since they were young children. They will reply: “Remember who you are & Whose you are!” Sound advice for all of us as we face a multitude of uncertainties in this unpredictable world where we live.…