I hate death. I can’t stand it. It separates us from the ones we love; it cuts short our goals and longings; it brings excruciating physical pain and waves of emotional grief. Death is a trainwreck, “the expression of a catastrophe which runs on a collision course with man’s original destination or, in other words, […]

The question was a little strange: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). It was strange because, being Jewish, the disciples of Jesus knew how to pray. From childhood, their parents had taught them to pray the Shema three times a day: “Hear O Israel, the LORD is God, the LORD alone” (Deut. 6:4). It

Find a penny and take a look. At the top are the words that have been engraved in U.S. currency since 1864: In God We Trust. These words appear above the head of one of our greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who led our nation through its most difficult days. On the eve of Lincoln’s 215th

What are your New Year’s Resolutions? The top 3 New Year’s Resolutions for most people are: save more money, exercise more, eat healthier. Those are all great resolutions, but can I offer an even better one? This doesn’t come from me, but from the wisest teacher ever. Jesus was once asked “what is the greatest

In a short letter he wrote to the small church located in Colossae (in modern day Turkey), the apostle Paul pens the words to the greatest hymn ever written. Scholars believe it was a hymn to Jesus sung by early Christians (a similar hymn is found in Phil. 2:5-11). This hymn is the center of

Why does it seem God hides so much? Where is he? Even the ancients admitted: “Truly you are a God who hides himself;” and “Why do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” ((Isa. 43:15; Ps. 10:1). God is funny in that he doesn’t yell at us saying, “Hey,

My wife Stacy and I just returned from a trip of a lifetime to Ireland. The country is breathtakingly beautiful, the people engagingly warm and friendly. I have wanted to visit Ireland for many years now after reading a book by Thomas Cahill entitled How The Irish Saved Civilization.[1] Cahill traces the history of Ireland

Don’t you hate it when you lose something? When is the last time you misplaced your keys? Irritating, isn’t it? Imagine losing something of tremendous value—maybe a $1,000 bill, or your grandmother’s diamond engagement ring.  Even worse–remember the panic you felt when your child got lost at a grocery store, at the mall, or at

Pilate, the Roman proconsul in Jerusalem in the 1st century, asked one of the most controversial, and important, questions we humans ask: “What is truth?” That is the way we usually ask the question. But those who come to know the truth realize that “what is truth” is not the right question.  “What” is not

Pilate was a prophet, but he didn’t know it. He asked one of the most important questions humans can ask (and one of the most controversial ones in our time): What is truth? I am referring to Pontius Pilate, who was the proconsul of the Roman province of Judea around 33 AD. His question, “What