To Be a Man

To Be a Man

What is it to be a man? When my mother raised me, she said, “Stand up and act like a man.” Where did she get that? Let’s take a brief account of the book of Job. Whether or not she spoke from her own recollection of Job or whether it filtered to her through common…

judgment and our savior

Judgment and Our Savior

We live in a world filled with sin. Our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and other people flaunt their sins on social media or in public. Some do it because they have blinded themselves to the wrong they are committing. Some do it to provoke a reaction in others. Some do it out of a misguided desire…

"Prepared" uses the story of Jonah to remind us that God can use us at any moment to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

Prepared

The book of Jonah has always been a favorite of many over the years, not only because it has a really good story, but also because of the many lessons that can be taken from its text. To that end, there is one word that appears four times in this book that seems to have…

"A Godly Man Shipwrecked" uses the story of Paul in Acts 27 to illustrate how our character in this world impacts the salvation of others.

A Godly Man Shipwrecked

In Acts 27, Luke records an interesting narrative that adds insight into and lessons from Paul. Peter remarks in 1 Peter 2:12, “having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Paul appealed…

"Out of sight, out of mind" reminds us how easily we forget important people and things when they are not present.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Back in the early to mid-1930s, Jean Piaget conducted some research in regard to the way that intelligence develops in humans. One of his conclusions dealt with the idea of object permanence. Through his experiments, he decided that children, specifically those under the age of 2, did not have a sense of objects still existing…

Laying down our lives for others means spending our lives nurturing and promoting the welfare of souls. Is there a better way to live?

Laying Down Our Lives

From the moment God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7), two abiding truths have been abundantly clear. 1) Life is sacred and precious to God.  2) Mankind, sadly, often fails to concur.  When God confronts Cain for murdering Abel in Genesis 4, Cain appears to immediately grasp the serious implications of…

What advice would I give to my younger self?

Advice to My Younger Self

Recently, I was reading an article about giving advice to one’s younger self. If I could go back and give advice to my younger self, one of the most valuable nuggets of advice I would give is, “Dan, turn off the tv, put down the video games, and stop focusing on your car; it will…

All that I have

All That I Have

Remember the children’s song about the boy who gave Jesus his “two little fish and five loaves of bread”? It closes with these words: “All that I have, All that I have, I will give Jesus all that I have.” That is a powerful promise and not one to be made lightly. And it is entirely in…