Category: . . . Investing in the Kingdom

What Kind of Older Man Will I Be?

I first heard pastor and author Alistair Begg talk about T.S. Mooney when I was in college. He gives some details about Mooney’s life in his book Made For His Pleasure: Ten Benchmarks of a Vital Faith (Moody Press, 1996, pp. 55-57). Begg first met Mooney...

Be Faithful unto Death

The second church in Revelation chapter 2, the church at Smyrna, received sobering news from John: they were soon to suffer severe persecution. Some would be imprisoned for their faith, and some would be put to death (Rev. 2:8-11). The message to this church, conveyed through...

What Do You Do When You Have Nothing to Do?

You probably have more free time than you think you do. By “free time,” I mean time that is not already allocated for some scheduled, necessary, daily or weekly routine type of activity—in other words, time when you are free to choose what to do, with...

There’s a Place for You in the Church: The Story of a Boy Who Couldn’t Learn

Don McClure was a missionary in Eastern Africa from 1928 until 1977, when he was shot and killed by militants in eastern Ethiopia. While living in one particular village, he and his wife, Lyda, provided schooling and housing for boys. One year, they were expecting 80,...

Obedient from the Heart

Why do you think Jesus can confidently say “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27)? Or, how can he say “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15)? How can John confidently say, “By this...

Writing Down Our Thoughts

It is a well-known fact that the spiritually facile New England pastor and revival leader, Jonathan Edwards, was taught by his father to write down almost every new thought he had, a method he practiced throughout his life. His “Miscellanies” are now an invaluable source of...

Words Hold Remarkable Power

“I am but an ordinary Man. The Times alone have destined me to Fame—and even these have not been able to give me, much…Yet some great Events, some cutting Expressions, some mean Hypocrisies, have at Times, thrown this Assemblage of Sloth, Sleep, and littleness into Rage...

Why Read a Good Book?

As an old man Paul directed Timothy to “bring the books, but especially the parchments” on his return trip. Luther, who wrote a book or large tract every two weeks from 1519 until the end of his life, said “Printing is the highest and ultimate gift...

Time Will Tell

How do you spend your discretionary time? In other words, what do you choose to do when you are free to do anything you want? Consider the Apostle Paul’s instructions about the use of time: Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but...

The Antidote to Boredom

Solomon Grundy Born on Monday Christened on Tuesday Married on Wednesday Taken ill on Thursday Worse on Friday Died on Saturday Buried on Sunday And that was the end of Solomon Grundy. Is your life predictable? boring? “same ol’ same ol‘?” Please excuse me for being...