What does a life that is pleasing to God look like? Every Christian wrestles with that question from time to time and in various ways. Hebrews 11 not only gives an answer to the question but also paints a picture through the life of Enoch, the man of faith whose life was well-pleasing in the eyes …
In reading Luke’s Gospel recently, a phrase stood out that Jesus repeated on four occasions: “Your faith has saved you” (Luke 7:50; 8:48; 17:19; 18:42). Three times He spoke it to someone who had received physical healing and once to a sinful woman who received forgiveness after anointing His feet with her tears along with …
Last year, Pope Francis wrote a long, open letter to the founder of the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Eugenio Scalfari, addressing a list of questions Scalfari posed about Christianity. News outlets highlighted one passage from Francis’ letter in particular because it raised the question of whether people who don’t believe in the Christian God can …
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder. James 2:19 (NIV) Most overweight people are quite familiar with the cause of their condition. They know the butter-and-jam laden croissants they are about to eat are loaded with calories and fat. They know that the broccoli they shunned …
The spread of the gospel in nineteenth-century China owed much to one man—Hudson Taylor. As the founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1865 and a great encourager of missionaries, Taylor blazed a trail for the gospel, leaving 125,000 Chinese Christians at his death. Men such as C. T. Studd heeded his call. Despite …
Recently, Pastor Jamie Coots of Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus’ Name Church in Middlesboro, Kentucky, died of a rattlesnake bite, while trusting in the Lord to heal him. He claimed that Mark 16:18 assured him believers could “pick up serpents” without harm. He’d recovered from earlier bites, but this time he didn’t, even as he …