Month: August 2011

Answers To Tough Questions

Answers To Tough Questions provides a variety of answers to commonly asked questions covering numerous topics. By no means do we provide all the answers, but we do our best to provide you with biblically based answers to the questions you may be struggling with. We also hope to provide you with information that you can use to help others who are struggling to find answers to tough questions.

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Discovery Series

Discovery Series offers more than 200 Bible-based teachings from the study of Scripture to topics on everyday life. Each booklet provides spiritual tools to help you grow in your walk with Christ.

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Podcasts

Podcasting works the same way as an RSS feed (see our What is RSS? page for more information), with one exception. Instead of reading the new content on a computer screen, you download an MP3 file to your computer for listening with your media player or on your iPodTM or other MP3 Player.

We highly recommend having high-speed Internet access…

Promises You Can Bank On

After a global financial crisis, the US government enacted stricter laws to protect people from questionable banking practices. Banks had to change some of their policies to comply. To notify me of such changes, my bank sent me a letter. But when I got to the end I had more questions than answers. The use of phrases like “we may” and “at our discretion” certainly didn’t sound like anything I could depend on!

Friends In The Night

Do you have someone you could call in the middle of the night if you needed help? Bible teacher Ray Pritchard calls these people “2 a.m. friends.” If you have an emergency, this kind of friend would ask you two questions: “Where are you?” and “What do you need?”

Do It Yourself

You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). It’s easy to miss those words from Jesus. A huge crowd had gathered to hear Him. Late in the day, the disciples got nervous and started pressing Him to send them away (v.36). “You give them something to eat,” Jesus replied (v.37).

Why would He say that? John 6:6 says He was testing them. Did He want to see if they would trust Him to perform a miracle? Maybe, but it seems more likely He wanted His disciples involved in caring for the crowd, to be hands-on in working with and for Him.

Myanmar

Our Daily Bread Myanmar started began in 1993, when Albert Lee, former National Director of Singapore Youth For Christ, brought an English version of Our Daily Bread to Myanmar and encouraged us to translate and distribute the daily devotional in Myanmar.

We hence obtained permission to translate Our Daily Bread, and worked in partnership with Myanmar Youth For Christ to produce…

“Embroidery Of Earth”

Near one of the most majestic sites in God’s nature is a botanical garden of awe-inspiring beauty. On the Canadian side of Niagara Falls is the Floral Showhouse. Inside the greenhouse is a vast array of beautiful flowers and exotic plants. In addition to the flora my wife and I observed, something else caught our attention—the wording of a plaque.

Is God Obligated?

A friend sent me photographs of 20 beautiful churches in the world. Located as far apart as Iceland and India, each of them is architecturally unique.

The most beautiful place of worship in Jeremiah’s day was the temple in Jerusalem, which King Josiah had recently repaired and restored (2 Chron. 34–35).

Master Craftsman

When my wife and I were engaged, her dad gave us a special wedding present. As a watchmaker and jeweler, he made our wedding rings. To make my wedding band, Jim used gold scraps left over from resizing other rings—scraps that were seemingly without much value.

A New Purpose

A 60-year-old hotel in Kansas is being renovated into apartments. A rusty ship that is docked in Philadelphia is being restored and may become a hotel or a museum. Hangar 61, an admired piece of architecture at the old Stapleton Airport in Colorado, is being transformed into a church. Each structure had a specific use that is no longer viable.

Throw The Book At Him

Things were off to a great start for Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. In Matthew 3, He was baptized and heard the affirming words of His Father, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (v.17). But then things took a turn for the worse.

Weighing the outcome of this crucial decision: to love or reject God

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny”

Wearing Yourself Out

My friend Jeff was asked by his daughter to officiate at her wedding. This would be a great joy as they traveled to an exotic and romantic location for the ceremony. But there was one major problem—because the wedding party was very small, Jeff would have to perform three separate roles that could be in conflict.