My father said something to me recently, words that have haunted many of my waking moments and caused me to seek the Lord when I wake with a pounding in my chest. Upon learning that he had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, my father bitterly decried the latter half of his life as…
“That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.” (Matthew 19:22 NIV) Every year I take time out during the week after Christmas to assess the previous twelve months and…
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.” (Joshua 1:6 NIV) Do you remember those Verizon commercials from a few years ago? An actor went everywhere he could think of, searching for a clear cellular signal and asking, “Can you hear…
When I was a teenager, I was a day-camp counselor one summer. I was one of the younger counselors, and I was so excited to lead a group of kids. When I received a review from my supervisor, however, it included the word bossy. I was appalled, followed quickly by ashamed. It was one of…
My six-year-old daughter recently professed that she believes Jesus is her personal savior, that he died on the cross for the forgiveness of her sins, and that she wants to follow him for the rest of her life. To my cautious mother-mind, this was big stuff. I made a point of bringing up the subject…
In Jesus’s parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30 ESV), a man going on a journey entrusts varying amounts of his talents—or money—to each of three servants. These servants are δουλος (doulos), bond servants. Spiros Zodhiates’s Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament says a δουλος is “a slave, one who is in a permanent relation of…