Category Archive for: ‘Devotions’

Although His birth brought no great fanfare or recognition from the institutions and governments of men, Jesus’ ministry of revealing the Father’s forgiveness of sin changed the course of men’s lives forever. Until Jesus, sin had an ugly permanency that gripped men’s souls like a black darkness without hope. But with the Father’s forgiveness of sin, He brought relief from …

There are three things I remember about John on the day that I met him.  He was a tree trimmer, an alcoholic and almost dead.  My wife Anoosh and I were sharing our testimony in a church in Michigan when John’s mother came to the altar for prayer.  She told us how he had fallen over 60 feet just two …

When you consider the weakness and failing of modern man, is it any wonder that God sent Christ to die for our sins?  He saw to it that a Mediator bridged the great divide between the holy and unholy, thus securing our access to Him so that we might come with assurance to the throne of grace (1 Timothy 2:5).While …

Nearly everyone has been hurt by the actions or words of another but it is wise to remember that forgiveness can heal individuals, marriages, families and entire communities.  Forgiveness is a decision to release thoughts of resentment and revenge.  My wife’s sister’s husband, Bishop Haik Hovsepian, was a strong Christian leader in a Muslim country.  He was known as the …

It is important to know that the Bible bases all its spiritual truths on historical facts. God’s Word, the Bible, does not proliferate ill-defined abstract theoretical ideas but irrefutable historical facts. The evidence in favor of the Resurrection of Jesus is as strong and conclusive as any historical fact established in the scriptures. It is evidence grounded in prophecy and …

Not long ago most of the major television news channels ran an incredible story about a young child named Don who lost his eyesight to cancer.  Ultimately, he learned to play video games, ride a bike, skate and engaged in sports.  How you ask?  Well he learned to see using a method called echolocation.  By clicking his tongue he was …

The Apostle Peter was far from perfect, especially when he first began to follow the Lord.  I suppose of all the New Testament Apostles Peter wouldn’t be allowed to register grievances at the Customer Service Counter of Christianity.  Peter’s darkest hour came when he denied the Lord three times. (Mark 14:66-68).  Early on he lacked faith, humility, spiritual understanding and …

When the Christian’s mind turns to nature, his heart turns toward God in faith, awe and wonder.  The Bible says in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it, for He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.” One of the Bible’s most prominent …

When my wife Anoosh and I lived in Alaska there was a pair of eagles who had a nest not far from our camp in the wilderness. I used to watch them for hours through my high-powered binoculars. Do you know that Bald Eagles mate for life? They usually lay one to three eggs two to four days apart. Both …

As Christians we often wonder what it would have been like to have walked along the shore of Galilee with Jesus and hear him teach, heal the leper, open the eyes of the blind and turn five loaves and two fish into enough food to feed five thousand.  What was it like to stand next to Him as He said, …

The use of masks in ancient Greek theater was common. Those in the chorus wore masks, but their masks were completely different from those of the leading actors. Because the number of actors was limited, they each had several masks in order to play several roles. Since the actors were all men, the mask was also necessary to allow them …

Steven Gallahan, a naval architect and avid sailor, survived for seventy-six days adrift in a small life raft in the Atlantic Ocean. His bestselling book, Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea, was on the New York Times best-seller list for more than thirty-six weeks. Callahan departed from the Canary Islands in Napoleon Solo, a sailing boat (sloop) he designed and …

Since the dawn of mankind, we have always wondered what happens after we die. Buddhists, for example, believe a living being is somehow connected to a chain of other living beings, and when they pass away, they will begin another life be it human or a single-cell amoeba. Many other religions, including most Eastern religions and the New Age movement, …

Audie Murphy was the most decorated hero in WWII. Though a war hero and then subsequently a movie star, he died broke and destitute in a plane crash on Memorial Day weekend in 1971. Audie Murphy squandered millions of dollars on gambling, bad investments and women other than his wife. “Even with the adultery and desertion at the end, he …

We know precious little about Jesus as a child. There are only a few sentences in scripture about his early life with the most interesting found in Luke 2:48-51. His parents missed him after several days of travel and finally found him in the temple. In verses 48 – 51 we find this unusual dialogue, “. . . And when …

Almost everyone has a photo album of friends, family and far-away lands they’ve visited. My favorite photo of our children, David and Talitha, was taken by their baby- sitter at a Wal-Mart in West Virginia when they were just four and five years of age. David was shy and reserved while Talitha, being a typical young girl and an extrovert, …

The ocean water was warm, the sand moved gently beneath my feet and the tide rushed towards the dry and thirsty beach, catching the tiny fiddler crabs and carrying them places they didn’t necessarily want to go. The sun was hot, the warm salt air blew gently against my face and seagulls, gracefully aided by the turbulent wind, darted over …

Jehovah (God) gave Moses two of the highest compliments that any human could ever hope to receive. Exodus 33:11 said, “The Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend,” and in Deuteronomy 34:10, the Lord said , “There has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” …

A friend of mine came to me recently and asked me to interpret a dream for her. The Lord revealed that soon a trusted friend would belittle her and challenge her authority. The next day it came to pass. Right in front of a large group, a leader embarrassed this woman by making an unnecessary comment which could have been …

I believe if we listen carefully we can learn some life-lessons from the conversation between a canary in a cage and a lark on the window sill. The lark looked in at the canary and asked, “What is your Purpose?” “My purpose is to eat seed,” said the canary. The lark pressed, “What for?” The canary chimed, “So I can …

There’s nothing more beautiful than spring. It’s that glorious time of the year when the earth experiences a joyful period of rebirth and renewal. Flowers bloom, trees blossom and suddenly butterflies, birds and many of God’s smallest creatures reappear after a long cold winter. The trees turn a lovely shade of green and nature awakens from its winter slumber. From …

During the 2nd Great Awakening, the circuit preachers were fiery men of faith who were always on the move, planting the gospel seed and building new churches wherever they happened to make a few converts.  The first circuit rider in America was Robert Strawbridge who came to the colonies in 1764.  He was followed by many men and women who …

I love the old Wild West movies – especially the ones in black and white where the good guy always wins. As a child I remember watching Dale Evans and Roy Rogers and begging my dad to buy me a horse that looked just like Roy’s horse Trigger. I decided at a very young age of four that when I …

I was flying my antique 1942 Aeronca Defender aircraft from Elkins, West Virginia to the airport in Clarksburg where we had just moved. What should have been an enjoyable flight turned into a living nightmare when I almost lost my life. In all the years I had been flying, it was the only time I took off in bad weather. …

Oscar Levant, the famous Russian Jewish musician, was playing a concert in a high school auditorium and became greatly disturbed when a nearby telephone kept ringing. In the middle of his piece, he leaned forward and without missing a note said, “If that is for me, tell them I’m busy,” and kept on playing as if nothing had happened. We …

Henri Nouwen wrote in The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life, “Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists! Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to? Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands? Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that …

Peer pressure – I guess most of us have given in to it at one time or another. When teens have low self-esteem, small challenges can become major sources of anxiety, embarrassment, and frustration. Because I wanted to be accepted, peer pressure coaxed me into doing things I would never had done on my own as a kid. After all, …

Shortly after the death of Jesus, some of His followers were thrown to the lions. It was a most shocking and gruesome form of execution. When early Christians gathered together to live in communities and worship Jehovah, they refused to take up arms. Many were identified as misfits and public enemies, and in many cases, they too were put to …

On a cold January morning in 2007 in the Washington, DC Metro Station, a violinist played six Bach pieces. While he played, two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After approximately ten minutes the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw some money in his hat and, without stopping, continued on …

My wife Anoosh and I had traveled by train from Moscow to Tbilisi so I could minister in a large Baptist church. We were greeted by freezing rain, sleet, snow and one dark gray day after another. The damp chill got under our skin yet despite the bitter cold, the mood among the underground believers was incredible uplifting. Upon our …

God believes in missions. He sent His Son to save humanity and reconcile them to Himself through Christ Jesus and the cross. Churches are meant to be missionary communities, sending forth those He called to local and distant lands and equipping them with the power of the Gospel. John Paton was such a missionary who willingly faced danger and risked …

I read a blog once that said, “Atheism that consists in vacuous arguments afloat on oceans of historical ignorance, made turbulent by storms of strident self-righteousness, is as contemptible as any other form of dreary fundamentalism.” Along these same lines, a friend of mine once said that fundamentalism is pretty much tied to Christianity and the Bible, and its arguments …

I recently read a fascinating article about what some consider to be the most beautiful sights, people and places of interest in the world: The most beautiful house which is located in Barcelona, Spain; The most beautiful city in the world — Vancouver, Canada; Fatima, a beautiful little girl living in France; An Afghan young woman said to have the …

We set sail from Falmouth, England on May 14th in our 26 foot sailing sloop, hoping to reach Lisbon, Portugal by mid June. Our plan was to cross the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay before the early storms and June Gloom (heavy fogs) that are typical during that time of year. Weather is the most important consideration for …

This theme that God is interested in small things is found throughout the Bible. Sometimes the smallest decision made poorly can render disastrous results. At the conclusion of the movie “Schindler’s List”, the end of World War II has come, and the Jewish people who were saved from death by Oscar Schindler gave him a gift of their gratitude. Several …

There are more than five thousand languages spoken across the face of the earth. If one believes the Bible, all these languages could be traced back to a time when the people of the world spoke one tongue as told in the primeval Old Testament story of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).According to the Bible, the people of Babylon started to build …

Where are you headed in life? Is life a journey filled with meaning and contentment or is it void of direction and fulfillment? Do you yearn to make sense out of life and the world around you? Is your journey one of growth and discovery or ruin and heartache? From birth, a loving Father deeply ingrained within the soul of …

Money, power and lust are corrupting our society at an alarming rate while many just turn a blind eye and chose to ignore it. The desire for money over spiritual substance has spread through our society like the common cold. The spirit and humility of Jesus is disappearing while greed is increasing, allowing evil to creep into God’s kingdom and …

One of the many horrible tragedies during the sinking of the Titanic was that many of those who made it into the water alive were left abandoned by half-empty lifeboats that rowed away without rescuing those still left in the water. Out of the twenty lifeboats rowing to safety, only one turned back to save a few more passengers. Over …

God created the world “ex nihilo” which means “out of nothing” but as believers we know that God created the world out of love. Thus it became our responsibility to take pleasure in His creation and use the fruits of his labor wisely. The first account (Genesis 1) is a view of creation from heaven’s perspective. Genesis 1:2 tells us …

Acts of compassion have the potential to heal broken hearts, dispel hatred and restore damaged relationships. No one ever embodied God’s compassion more than Jesus. His heart cried for the sick, the weary and the outcast. He embodied compassionate leadership which changed the world. No wonder crowds of people followed His every footstep. He not only performed miracles to heal …

Death is inevitable. It will ultimately happen to all of us as is the way for mortal men and woman. The apostle Paul said, “I tell you a mystery — we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet sound.” A Christian has nothing to …

In Acts 27:9-12, Luke records how he, Paul and others were adrift for fourteen days in a storm only to end up shipwrecked on the island of Malta halfway across the Mediterranean. Both meteorological and nautical evidence demonstrate, in a rather brilliant manner, that these events probably occurred precisely as Luke recorded them. The incident of the contrary wind serves …

Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Matthew Henry once said, “Those who live a carnal, sensual life must expect no other fruit from such a course than misery and ruin. But those who, under the guidance and influences of the Holy Spirit, live …

Other than the rapture and when it will occur, I know of no topic that is as mysterious as the topic of Heaven. Many religions believe in a heaven but only Christianity gives a clear understanding of what it is as revealed in the Holy Bible. What then will heaven be like? The Bible says, “There will be no more …

The philosophical and theological argument regarding the subject, “Does God still heal today” has been around since the time of Christ. The following brief passage represents in just a few short words the healing ministry of Christ. “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; …

Because of the cross my life has been changed. Because of his shed blood, my sins have been washed away. Because of His death, my debt has been paid, and because of His resurrection, I have hope beyond the grave. Because of His compassion, I am comforted in the storm. Because of His mercy, I am no longer forlorn. Because …

It was a brisk ten degrees centigrade inside the seventh century Russian church where, in spite of persecution and cold, over one hundred underground believers attended for our wedding ceremony. With our heads bowed in reverence to the Almighty God, the Gregorian Orthodox priest prayed in his native tongue as he held a large golden cross above our heads. It …

Webster’s New World Office Dictionary says that religion is belief in and worship of God or gods; a specific system of belief, whereas Christianity is built on a relationship with God through Christ, God’s Son. His gospel message, the “good news”, made a way for those estranged by religion and all its pious ceremonies to restore the fundamental relationship between …