Today’s readings: 1 Kings 18:20-40; Philippians 3:1-16; Matthew 3:1-12 John came in the wilderness preaching, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” The Jews came to the Jordan and were baptized by him. This call to a baptism of repentance was from a Jewish prophet to the Jewish people, God’s people. It was a baptism which

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 18:1-19; Philippians 2:12-30; Matthew 2:13-23 I attended a political rally in the sixties when a political figure concluded his speech on Civil Rights. He said, “Deep down in your hearts, you know it is right!” I have never forgotten that phrase. In fact, I have generalized it to many issues in my life. When

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 17:1-24; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 2:1-12 The Christian mission is to preach the gospel throughout the earth so all people might realize God’s grace. It is a daunting task, to preach to the whole world, but God’s people must be diligent, for we never know who is listening. When the time was right, God revealed

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 16:23-34; Philippians 1:12-30; Mark 16:1-20 Oh no, this is terrible! Paul is in prison. What will happen to his mission to proclaim the Gospel to all the world? This was the worry of many Christians who knew Paul, but Paul assured them they had nothing to worry about. Even though he was in prison,

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 13:1-10; Philippians 1:1-11; Mark 15:40-47 A prophet went to King Jeroboam and would only say and do what the Lord commanded. The word of God through this man of God was not at all pleasing to the king. Yet, the prophet was not afraid. Paul was in prison. But, he was not afraid. He

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 12:21-33; Acts 4:18-31; John 10:31-42 Jeroboam was in trouble. His kingdom was struggling and people were travelling away from Shechem to Jerusalem to worship God. In this time of struggle, Jeroboam decided to trust the advice of humans and relied on politicians rather than trusting God. In so doing, he made two golden calves

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 12:1-20; James 5:7-20; Mark 15:33-39 The adage goes, “Youth is wasted on the wrong people.” As they say, with age comes wisdom—or it should. Unfortunately for Rehoboam, he failed to listen to the sage advice of his wiser and older councilors. Instead, he turned his ear to those who had grown up with him.

Today’s readings: 1 Kings 11:26-43; James 4:13–5:6; Mark 15:22-32 Our God is a loving God, but as I often told my children, “Yes, I love you, but don’t push it.” Love without discipline is not love. If you love your child, you want the very best for him. You want him to develop the knowledge and skills necessary