Articles
Essential information for Christian Living
This selection of basic but essential articles focuses on Christian living and understanding – tactics and strategies – with topics which aim to help you in your daily Christian walk as well as in your understanding of the biblical writings and the goals they set. The article topics are searchable using the SEARCH button at the top of the page.
Christian Living
In a Hurry to be Patient: A Personal Confession
Is patience a gene? I have always been impatient. Overcoming this failing is part of my personal climb. I have read the biblical verses relating to this subject many times over and some have been helpful, but trying to be patient when you’re feeling...
Do We “Pray Without Ceasing”?
Scripture says in many places that we are to “pray always” or to pray “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18, etc.). How can we possibly do that? What does that mean? Understanding the answers will make all the difference in the level...
Get More Out of Your Bible Study … Try a New Translation
An irony of faithful regular Bible study is that the more you read it, the more familiar the Bible becomes – and sometimes we may feel we are just not seeing as much as we did when we first, excitedly, came to the word of...
A Lion in a Pit on a Snowy Day
Among the band of heroes that the Bible tells us were King David’s leading warriors – his “special forces operatives” – one warrior is particularly interesting. David’s chief fighters were all noted for great exploits, but one who stands out even in that crowd is...
Take Courage!
“… Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! …” (Matthew 14:27) The Bible contains many stories of courage. Some, such as the account of the young David fighting the giant Goliath, come quickly to mind. But there are dozens more examples throughout the pages...
An Unexpected Source of Strength
“... the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).Some of us love the sight of a universal gym or a set of free weights. Some of us view such things as being remarkably like our idea of medieval torture devices. But whether we willingly...
Warriors in Word, Thought, and Deed
The seasoned and successful warrior learns to recognize dangerous terrain from which ambush or sniper fire might come. This is just as true of the spiritual warrior as it is of physical soldiers – if we are oblivious to where attacks may come from, we are likely to...
Five Paths to Encouragement
The Bible has much to say about encouragement – and shows that it is something even the strongest individuals of faith need at times (Moses, David, and Elijah, to name only three). The Scriptures also show that there is a difference between being...
The Christian Climb
An Alpine Symphony, by Richard Strauss, depicts a dawn to dusk climb up a mountain. Why do we climb mountains? You can get almost as many answers to that question as you can find climbers to ask. Some will say because the mountains are there, others...
Facing the Future Without Fear
Business failures. Layoffs. A shaky stock market and weak economy. It’s not hard to find things to be anxious over today. If it’s not national crises, a variety of everyday problems can disturb us: the lump discovered on a breast; the divorce papers served yesterday;...
The 80% Prayer Principle
By R. Herbert Not all prayer is asking for something, but a great deal of it obviously is. When we do ask, do we pray mainly for our own physical and spiritual needs and concerns? There is no doubt that it is acceptable to pray for these things – we have Christ’s...
Mark His Words: Bible Highlighting
It doesn’t take long for most Christians to discover that a marked Bible can be a whole lot more useful than an unmarked one. Not only does Bible marking make important verses stand out, but also it enables us to add notes and symbols that help us remember,...
Biblical Understanding
Five Things You May Not Know About Saying “Amen”
We are all so used to hearing people say “Amen” at the end of prayers and saying it ourselves that we seldom think about the word, but the following points may show you that there is a lot about that small word you don’t know. 1) “Amen” doesn’t just mean “may it be...
Discipleship Illustrated
“We must hang together, or we’ll hang separately.” “. . . ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” These statements identify (and...
Sampson: Seriously Flawed, Used Seriously
We are amazingly reluctant to realize that our heroes have faults. When it becomes glaringly obvious, we toss them aside, capes torn, shields tarnished, heroes no longer.This must be why we find it so hard to realize that good people in the Bible do inexplicably bad...
I Am Barabas
He sits in the dungeon, knowing that before the day is over he will be executed in the most brutal manner that Roman law allows. He’ll be scourged within a hair’s breadth of death, and then nailed to a stake to die slowly and painfully, paying for his crimes of...
Why Do We Study the Word of God?
Many of us study the Bible every day. If we’re not, we should be. But why do we study the Word of God? Many of us frankly enjoy learning more “things” about scripture: more data, a fascinating Hebrew word picture, the meaning in the original...
What the Cavemen Learned
I’m not talking about prehistoric Neanderthal or Cro-Magnon “cavemen” here – I'm actually thinking of two men of God who at different times in biblical history both learned important lessons at the back of a cave.These men were both...
Five Bible Study Sites Compared
There are now a good many websites competing for your online Bible study time. Most publishers of individual translations have a dedicated site for their own Bible version, and there are numerous sites which compare multiple translations and offer other study helps....
Choosing a Bible Translation
If we don’t read the original languages in which the books of the Bible were written – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek – we need a translation, and even scholars who can read those languages often don't read all of them, so ultimately everyone needs or can profit from a...
Understanding the Psalms of Vengeance
“My God … do not remain silent …Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. May his days be few; may another take his place of...
Two Views of Life
Christian Living in an Increasingly Polarized Age By R. Herbert Conservatives and liberals? There have probably always been two ways to look at life. We only have to look back to New Testament times to see the opposing views of the conservative Pharisees and...
“An Eye for an Eye”: A Law of Revenge or Restraint?
Was the Old Testament law of “an eye for an eye” a brutal law of revenge, or something very different? – And how can the answer help us understand Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount? The principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”(Leviticus 24:20,...
The Importance of Context
The English word “context” is derived from two Latin words meaning “to weave threads” (contextus, from con- 'together' + texere 'to weave') and so our word signifies that which is connected or woven together. The expression “context is...
