Before I entered the ministry, I worked in Christian bookstores. I started working in them at the age of 16 and even managed three of them once I turned 18. I enjoyed every minute of it and thought that was going to be my career. In general, I love bookstores so much that when Lydia and I were first married, a great date for us was to eat out somewhere, and then she would drop me off at a used boo...  Read More

Adrian Rogers once saw a picture and an article that caught his attention from The Houston Chronicle. This picture, which was on the front page, showed a woman who had her ear on a man’s chest. The man was not her husband, nor was he her son, nor was he related to her in any way, and yet she had her ear on his chest. The reason was because the man that she had her ear up to his chest was a man who...  Read More

We really resent the idea when someone says, “Do as I say, but not as I do.” Our walk should match our talk. I’ve come to conclude that our beliefs and doctrines are what we say we believe. But our actions are proving what we actually believe. Our doctrines may be what we say we believe, but our actions reveal what we truly believe. Galatians 2 tells the story of when Paul had to confront Peter be...  Read More

Lydia and I once had the opportunity to visit Yerevan, Armenia. While we were there, we visited a monastery named “Khor Virap” (which means “deep dungeon”), which is located on the border with Turkey overlooking Mount Ararat. The site is so beautiful that you can see the two mountains when the sky is clear. It's an incredible view from that position. Merchants in Yerevan, which is close to the loc...  Read More

In Jesus Skeptic, award-winning journalist John Dickerson shares how Christianity has benefited society through the arts, through the scientific revolution, through developing hospitals and universities and much more. He writes, “We say that a fish doesn’t know what water is because water is all they have ever known. In a similar way, we who have been born into American or European cultures have a...  Read More

Remember the childhood experience of getting soap in your eyes during a bath? The moment the soap would trickle down, the natural reaction was to look down, which only made it worse. However, as parents, we've all told our young children to "Keep looking up." When trying to wash that young child's hair, if we could get them to keep looking up, the soap wouldn't get in their eyes. Well, when I read...  Read More

I read about the love story of Daniel Webster and Grace Fletcher. At the time, he was a poor lawyer who fell in love with Grace and began dating her. Grace's father was a clergyman and he allowed Daniel to visit only when he was present. So, they started dating in Grace's home, where she worked. Her job was to untangle knots in silk yarn, which was a time-consuming process. Daniel would sit with h...  Read More

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  — 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)Ann Landers, the syndicated advice columnist, was at one time receiving ten thousand letters a month from people with all kinds of problems. Someone asked her if there was one common denominator among all her correspondents. She said that the great overriding theme of all the letters s...  Read More

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9It is crucial to distinguish between our relationship with God and our fellowship with God. When you are a child of God, you are in relationship with God. He's your Father; you are His child. That doesn't change. A doctrine that we need to understand and appreciate is ca...  Read More

"He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." - 2 Corinthians 5:21Every now and then, somebody says, "Well, what you need to do is forgive yourself" or "You just need to be affirmed." But that misses the whole point of true forgiveness.Think about it this way: Imagine if I had a guy named Jack and a guy named Bob in front of me, and I punched Jack ri...  Read More

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:12When God forgives, He doesn't do it halfway. Throughout Scripture, He uses descriptive illustrations to help us understand how completely He removes our sins:He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:11-12). How far is the east from the west? It just continues to go. God ...  Read More

"I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." - Acts 24:16In God's word, we see four different types of consciences that people can have:The Weak Conscience (1 Corinthians 8:7) - People may feel guilty when they should not. Often, people feel guilty about things that are not sins. Paul addressed this when he talked about eating meat sacrificed to idols. There are some areas the...  Read More