Worthy Words

Rome’s Emperor Diocletian, in 303 AD, created a law to destroy all Christian writings and Scripture. Christians in the Roman Empire were commanded to turn over all sacred Scriptures to be burned. If a person kept any of these writings, or proclaimed themselves to be a Christian they could lose civil rights and be dispossessed of liberty. Those who turned over these sacred writings were called traitors. Others who refused were killed and called martyrs. Even Diocletian, a non-Christian, saw the power of the Scripture and so he aimed to destroy it. He believed that he could end the Christian faith by destroying all holy writings. As Christ-followers it is important for us to be reading the Word of God. It helps us to understand our history, who our Savior is and why He died for us. The Bible teaches us how to live as Christ-followers. The Bible is God inspired from cover to cover with no mixture of error. It is power reading for the soul. It helps us to make good decisions and live a l...

I remember PE class in middle school when the coach would pick two captains and they would select from the class team members for doge ball. You could tell which kids didn’t have much confidence that they would be chosen in the early rounds by their body language. Some would squirm back and forth unable to peal their eyes from the gym floor below. It was apparent they hated this part of PE class. As those students stood there shifting their weight back and forth listening with their heads down they must have been wishing and praying and saying to themselves, “Pick me…pick me!” Name after name would be called. Each selected member would quickly hustle over to their respective team. You could cut the tension with a knife as fewer and fewer students remained along the wall uncalled. There were only a few kids left and someone knew they would be the last one picked. It always came down to the one standing alone and when selected they would move over to their team, shoulders drooping know...

When you were a child at school recess did you ever hear someone say this?... “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me.” That mantra provided protection, safety, and resistance against the hurtful words of school-yard bullies. Putdowns like, “You’re stupid!” and, “I can’t believe you wore that!” are examples of the way as kids we would hurt each other with our words. As hurtful as these words are when they are spoken from child to child, they exact the most damage when they are spoken from parent to child. “Hey chubby…how ‘bout another donut?” “Why can’t you be like your sister/brother?” “I can’t stand you…in fact, I can’t believe you’re my son!” Language like this corrodes the soul of a child like a deadly poison resulting in a slow death of the beautiful spirit within them. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul commands that our words build others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. “Do not let any unwholesome ta...

It’s that time of year again when high school, college, and professional football takes over the American sports scene. In Texas extra caution has been taken for teams facing this horrific heat wave. None the less the game must go on. The football season is underway. Coaches are putting their players through various drills, run-throughs, and scrimmages to prepare their teams for upcoming games. The pro-football teams have made some rule changes about how they practice this year. Full pads with full contact work-outs have been limited to once a week. Players practice now with limited full-speed scrimmages. Because the pro lock-out kept the players away from their practice facilities they haven’t been able to get the conditioning necessary to be full-speed ready. It seems that there are more injuries than in a normal pre-season. Either the players are not fully conditioned or the half-speed drills are creating injuries. Either way it doesn’t seem as if they are up to speed. There s...

This spring our church had a yard sale to raise money for VBS. As item after item began to accumulate before the big day I thought I might just rummage through some of the stuff and see if I might find a presale special. It wasn’t long until I came across a familiar item that I had as a child, the Magic 8-Ball. In case you aren’t familiar with this iconic toy, allow me to refresh your memory. The ball itself looks like a large black 8-ball used in billiards, except that this ball is larger and is filled with a dark liquid that gives cover to its contents: A small three-dimensional triangle has phrases on each surface such as “Signs Point to Yes,” “Don’t Count on It,” “You May Rely on It”, “Yes,” or “Definitely.” You’re to hold the 8-ball in your hands while asking a question, shake it and then wait in breathless anticipation for the answer to appear. Of course, if you were like me and the answer wasn’t one you liked, you would shake the ball again until a better answer appeared. Many...

Fox Television produced the longest-running espionage-themed TV drama called 24. It stared Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, working with a highly functional Counter Terrorist Unit, whose sole job was to protect America from terrorism plots. Each episode followed Bauer along with officials in the U.S. government tracking and intercepting the evil-doers behind the events of the day, often simultaneously. Each weekly episode takes place over the course of one hour, depicting events as they happen, in real time. To emphasize the real-world flow of events, a clock is prominently displayed on-screen during the show, and there is a regular use of a split screens, a technique used to depict multiple scenes occurring at the same time. Today your clock is running down the 24 hours that God provided for you to live life to its fullest. In real time that's 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds. Sometimes we get so busy and distracted we miss the fact that each rising, sun brings new opportunities a...

Hallelujah! Praise God from heaven, praise him from the mountaintops; praise him, all you his angels, praise him, all you his warriors, praise him, sun and moon, praise him, you morning stars; praise him, high heaven, praise him, heavenly rain clouds; praise, oh let them praise the name of God — he spoke the word, and there they were! He set them in place from all time to eternity; He gave his orders, and that's it! (Psalm 148:1-6 THE MESSAGE) The dictionary defines praise as the “act of expressing approval, admiration, commendation or laudation.” For Christ-followers, praising God is an act of honoring and worshiping, of lifting Him up above all others and glorifying His name. Praise brings us closer to God as it awakens us spiritually and serves as a connection between the Lord and us. The Bible talks about different ways that people praise and worship the Lord. People sing, dance, clap their hands, play instruments and raise their hands as ways to show reverence to God in an...