First-century Christianity was simple and uncluttered. Early Christians cut through the complexity of their culture and allowed what was primary and essential to surface.
What are the basics that matter in our faith? Here are four cornerstones:
General Sam Houston, one of my heroes, was commander the army of the Republic of Texas, the first elected president of the Republic of Texas, first Senator from the state of Texas, and later the sixth governor of the state. Life on the Texas frontier was rough and rugged. Men molded by the frontier knew how to fight, drink, curse, and kill. Sam Houston fit the lifestyle comfortably and was know...
Years ago I heard a man warn, “If you’re outgo exceeds your income, you’re upkeep will be your downfall.” We need to remember that. Unmanageable debt can be deadly, whether you’re talking about Wall Street or Main Street. Whether it’s your house or the White House.
How do we avoid too much debt?
The week is the only measurement of time that has its origin in religion. Days, months, and years are determined by the movement of the planets, but God gave us the week.
The Bible says in Genesis that God created the heavens and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day he blessed it and set it aside saying, “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (separate and differen...
Pat Neff, one-time governor of Texas and later president of Baylor University, once said, “All my life I’ve heard preachers tell me to lay up treasures in heaven, but none of them ever told me how to do it. I had to figure it out on my own.
“The only way to get our treasures into heaven is to put them in something that is going there. Cattle, land, houses, stocks and bonds, all have no...
It’s interesting, don’t you think, that after 2,000 years people still feel a need to attack Jesus? You can see examples of the vehement ridicule of Christ everywhere in our American culture and beyond every day.
Why does Jesus still disturb so? Are they trying to expose him as a fraud? If so, it’s a little late for that.
Are they trying to justify their own sin because his...
B.H. Carroll, who founded the world’s largest seminary, lamented at the deathbed of his son, “I’ve taken care of the Lord’s house but not my own.” Billy Sunday, one of America’s greatest evangelists of the past, saw all four of his children die before reaching their 40th birthday. He said, “Funny, but in the last 20 years I’ve spoken to 85 million people. I’ve had the joy of seeing thousands co...
When someone suggested that rowing become a part of Clemson University’s athletic program, then athletic director Frank Howard declared, “We aren’t gonna have no sport where you sit down and go backwards.”
In our churches, cities, and individual lives we must spend our time looking ahead, not backwards.
Satchel Page, the great baseball pitcher used to say, “Don’t look back, some...
Father George DePrizio was in Rome years ago for a gathering of bishops. They discussed among other things why the church has lost the youth. One of the bishops, an American, rose and said, “My brother bishops, we have been busy bringing forth many reasons why we have lost the youth. I would be bold enough to give perhaps the first and real reason: it is our lack of joy. We have failed to witne...