I love celebrating the season of Christmas. Most years, I am not one of those who begins listening to Christmas music when the handful of radio stations begin playing holiday music before Thanksgiving, but this year I started listening to a song here and there since the beginning of October. I tend to think quite…
I have been a student of the Scriptures since at least my high school days – over fifty years now. Some parts of the Bible are incredibly challenging to understand: What are the signs of the Second Coming of Christ? How did God create the world? Why does a good God allow evil and suffering?…
We pause for a few moments every week to take a look back through the pages of the history book of the church. We strive to find some truth and lessons from the events of the past that can help guide us through the decisions of today. The great Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote,…
History teaches us the impact of cultures, religions, and individuals on society and its future. Christian individuals, especially in Europe and America, have shaped the direction of business, education, medicine, and politics. Through the lives of Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa, we better understand the impact of the individual. T.S. Eliot wrote, “It is in…
August 15 has been an active day in the church’s history books throughout the centuries. Let’s look at some events on August 15th through the lens of several years. Making History is a thought-provoking novel written in 1996 by author Stephen Fry. Years before its time, the book sounds like a chapter out of the…
Stasi Eldredge once wrote, “God leads all his people into the desert at one time or another.” Most of us are fearful of the desert. It’s wasteland holds mysteries which confuse and concern us. The desert has none of the comforts of home. It is cold, harsh, hot, and lonely. In our minds, the desert…
This week’s church history look back includes the Cane Ridge Revival of 1801, a major event of the Second Great Awakening in Kentucky that drew thousands and spurred smaller meetings across the frontier, and the death of Thomas a Kempis in 1471, noted for his influential devotional book “The Imitation of Christ.”
My interest in this topic has been inflamed by the headlines. Consider the news you have heard in just the past few years. The Wartburg Watch calls the list of fallen leaders a “conga line.” No doubt, there are names which have been left off the list unintentionally. If we would expand the timeline a…
Understanding history teaches important lessons; unfortunately, many of the lessons fall by the wayside. The old adage, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” has several versions and has been attributed to British statesman Winston Churchill, among others. The thought most likely originated with George Santayana in a 1905…
Today’s lesson brings us to a remarkable period of time in the upper room. It is a seven-day stretch where the disciples are asked to remain and wait. They have been promised that God will pour His Spirit upon them, but they are not sure what to expect. A Point to Ponder Have you ever…