About 10 years ago I read Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong. The book wasn’t in any way an attack on Islamic faith. Armstrong had high praise for the Quran’s Arabic poetry. In 1999, she was honored with the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Media Award. In her book Armstrong says that Muhammad never learned…
“For God so loved the [people of Ireland] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state in northwestern Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland (the remainder belongs to the United Kingdom). The…
Law enforcement has always been a dangerous occupation. Police officers must pursue and arrest people with passions heated by alcohol, drugs, hate, panic, and violent fury. They sacrifice their own safety to protect our community whenever lives are threatened by fire, flood, storm, or home invasion. Even people who despise the police call 911 at…
“For God so loved the [people of Indonesia] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Republic of Indonesia is in Southeast Asia. Situated between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, it is the largest island country in the world (with more…
In our culture personal freedom seems to be the ultimate value. Americans are immensely proud of the liberty to speak, write, worship, travel, work, and live as they please. It is this freedom that we all celebrate on July 4. While personal liberty is a great thing, attaining absolute freedom is impossible. Any freedom we…
“For God so loved the [people of India] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Republic of India is a country in South Asia bounded by the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. India shares land borders…
(Devotional message delivered on Sunday night 6/26/16) In his bestseller The Wright Brothers, David McCullough tells the story of two men from Dayton, Ohio, who changed the world. On December 8, 1903, Smithsonian director Samuel Langley made his final attempt to launch a manned flying machine. His Aerodrome plunged straight into the Potomac. Just nine…
The Lord instructed Moses to make and erect a tabernacle, a worship tent that could move with the people as they traveled in the desert. God called Bezalel, a skilled craftsman, to direct its construction. And the funding for the project was to come from voluntary donations. The people of Israel were to give what…
The heart of every compassionate American is touched by the horrific slaughter in Florida. A heavily-armed Muslim fanatic (and supporter of Isis) went into a nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning, murdering 50 homosexuals and lesbians and wounding 53 others. No doubt, Omar Mateen imagined that death would usher him into a sensual paradise, an…
Handsome young Joseph attracted the romantic interest of Potiphar’s wife. She attempted to seduce him. His godly response to her advances suggests a five-pronged strategy for resisting sexual temptation. Just Say No. Joseph “refused” (Gen. 39:8). My friend Byron was a truck driver. Women of the night often knocked on his cab door and offered…