Category: Devotions

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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, ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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, ... Read More

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) ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read 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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

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 ... Read More

The amount of sleep each person needs depends on many factors including age, health, and physical activity. Sleep experts believe that sleep may be a way of recharging the brain. Whatever the reasons, God designed our body and minds to be renewed by sleep. ... Read More

Have you ever looked up into the evening sky and wondered how many stars there are in space? This question has fascinated scientists throughout the ages. Stars are not scattered randomly through space but are gathered together into vast groups known as galaxies. Our Sun belongs ... Read More

Rev. C. H. Spurgeon said, “Of all substances known to man, blood is the most mysterious, and in some sense, the most sacred.” Scripture teaches us that "life is in the blood”. Blood, therefore, is the mysterious link between matter and spirit. How is it then ... Read More