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Knowing the Father
According to legend, British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once saw a distinguished-looking woman in a hotel foyer. Believing he knew her but unable to remember her name, he paused to talk with her. As the two chatted, he vaguely recollected that she had a brother. Hoping for a clue, he asked how her brother was doing and whether he was still working at the same job. “Oh, he’s very well,” she said, “And still king.”
A case of mistaken identity can be embarrassing, as it was for Sir Beecham. But at other times it may be more serious, as it was…
My Father’s Child
They looked down at the faded photograph, then up at me, then over at my father, then back at me, then back at my father. Their eyes were wide as the proverbial saucers. “Dad, you look just like Papa when he was young!” My father and I grinned because this was something we’ve known for a long time, but it wasn’t until recently that my children came to the same realization. While my father and I are different people, in a very real sense to see me is to see my father as a younger man: tall lanky frame, full…
The Greatest Mystery
Before I came to faith in Christ, I had heard the gospel preached but wrestled with Jesus’s identity. How could He offer forgiveness for my sins when the Bible says only God can forgive sins? I discovered I wasn’t alone in my struggles after reading J.I. Packer’s Knowing God. Packer suggests that for many unbelievers the “really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man . . . as truly and fully divine as He was human.” Yet this is the truth that makes salvation possible.
When the apostle Paul refers to Christ as “the image of…
The Flip Side of Love
The Roman inns during the time of Christ had a reputation so bad that rabbis wouldn’t even permit cattle to be left at them. Faced with such bad conditions, traveling Christians usually sought out other believers for hospitality.
The Flip Side of Love
The Roman inns during the time of Christ had a reputation so bad that rabbis wouldn’t even permit cattle to be left at them. Faced with such bad conditions, traveling Christians usually sought out other believers for hospitality.
Among those early travelers were false teachers who denied that Jesus was the Messiah. This is why the letter of 2 John tells its readers there is a time to refuse to extend hospitality. John had said in a previous letter that these false teachers were “antichrist—denying the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). In 2 John he elaborated on this, telling his…
Don’t Be Afraid!
Nearly every time an angel appears in the Bible, the first words he says are “Don’t be afraid!” Little wonder. When the supernatural makes contact with planet Earth, it usually leaves the human observers flat on their faces in fear. But Luke tells of God making an appearance in a form that does not frighten. In Jesus, born with the animals and laid in a feeding trough, God takes an approach that we need not fear. What could be less scary than a newborn baby?
On earth Jesus is both God and man. As God, He can work miracles, forgive sins,…
A Christmas Letter
Every Christmas, a friend of mine writes a long letter to his wife, reviewing the events of the year and dreaming about the future. He always tells her how much he loves her, and why. He also writes a letter to each of his daughters. His words of love make an unforgettable Christmas present.
We could say that the original Christmas love letter was Jesus, the Word made flesh. John highlights this truth in his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). In ancient philosophy, the Greek for Word, logos,…
Faith or Experience?
…the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —Galatians 2:20
We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the…
Unexpected Ways
In 1986, five-year-old Levan Merritt fell twenty feet into the gorilla enclosure of England’s Jersey zoo. As parents and onlookers cried out for help, a full-grown male silverback, named Jambo, placed himself between the motionless boy and several other gorillas. Then he began to gently stroke the child’s back. When Levan began to cry, Jambo led the other gorillas into their own enclosure as zoo-keepers and an ambulance driver came to the rescue. Thirty years later Levan still talks about Jambo the gentle giant—his guardian angel who had acted in a shockingly unexpected way, changing his perception of gorillas forever.
Elijah…
What Is God Like?
To celebrate a special occasion, my husband took me to a local art gallery and said I could choose a painting as a gift. I picked out a small picture of a brook flowing through a forest. The streambed took up most of the canvas, and because of this much of the sky was excluded from the picture. However, the stream’s reflection revealed the location of the sun, the treetops, and the hazy atmosphere. The only way to “see” the sky was to look at the surface of the water.
Jesus is like the stream, in a spiritual sense. When we…
Did Jesus Actually Claim To Be God?
Did Jesus actually claim to be God? It’s one of the most common questions you’ll hear from a skeptic. And today on Discover the Word, we’re concluding a weeklong study titled,“Scandals”, with a look at one of Jesus’s most audacious claims. Tune in for this encouraging discussion about the divine, scandalous grace of Jesus, today on Discover […]
History’s Most Scandalous Dinner Party
Science tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And today on Discover the Word, we continue the study of one of history’s most scandalous dinner parties and the opposite forces colliding in this incident found in Luke chapter 7. Join the conversation today on Discover the Word!
Jesus Came To Save The Oppressed And The Oppressor
Who did Jesus come to save? Today on Discover the Word, the group reveals the scandal of Jesus’s mission. He didn’t just come for the broken, the outcast, and the oppressed, but He came to also save the oppressor and all those who don’t think they need a Savior. Tune in as the group continues their study of Luke chapter […]
Jesus… At The Center Of A Scandal
It seems like there’s a new scandal grabbing the headlines every week. And while these hot news items usually involve someone who’s up to no good, today on Discover the Word we’ll be discussing a case in which Jesus found Himself at the center of a scandal. Tune in today right here on Discover the Word!
We All Have A Common Need For Christ
Today on Discover the Word, the team begins a brand-new series on Jesus’s desire to reach both the unclean outsider and the elite insider. Because as we’ll find, even the most opposite people have a common need for Christ. So tune in today for Discover the Word!
