1 CORINTHIANS 13:7 This phrase, coined by Thomas Inman, dates from 1860. Thomas Inman recommended that his fellow doctors should not prescribe a medicine for a cure if they were not sure it would work. They were to give the patient “the benefit of our doubts.” Why? Each time we attempt to benefit someone, in medicine … [Read more…]
PSALM 119:133 During the period of great sea exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries, ship pilots used several navigation techniques – including a book called a “rutter” (not the “rudder,” the ship’s steering device). The rutter is a mariner’s handbook of sailing directions written by earlier voyagers. Before the advent of nautical charts, rutters were … [Read more…]
PROVERBS 6:6-11 A shard of potato chip, a grain of rice, or even a speck of bread will do. When bigger things are discovered, they are also ever ready to carry them. Ants are one of the world’s strongest creatures in relation to their sizes. A single ant can carry fifty times its own bodyweight, and … [Read more…]
MATTHEW 22:34-40 Have you ever felt clogged up by rules and expectations? I wonder how the Jewish people must have felt as they tried to keep up with all the rules in the old testament (some scholars who have taken the pains to count them claim they are more than six hundred rules) and many more … [Read more…]
2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5 Christians have a long history of refusing to take part in physical warfare. Many Christians are pacifists. The Bible however speaks about the reality of a conflict we face as believers, and we popularly call that conflict “spiritual warfare.” Even though we are encouraged to be involved in spiritual warfare, the Bible does not grant … [Read more…]
1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-9 Celebrities abound in today’s culture. Prominent soccer players can create such emotions that fans can begin to riot. Popular musicians have fans who stand with adoration throughout entire concerts. Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood celebrities hire bodyguards to protect themselves from adoring stalkers. The first-century Corinthian believers had become divided over their own “spiritual celebrities.” … [Read more…]
2 TIMOTHY 2:4-5 A strange type of vine known as the matador grows in South America. The Spanish word matador means ‘killer.’ The matador begins its life growing at the foot of a tree. At first, it looks like a harmless little plant. But as it grows, the matador relentlessly winds its way around the tree, makes … [Read more…]
1 SAMUEL 8:19-22 The idiom, ‘Be careful what you ask for’, has a long history. It comes from Aesop’s fables created around 260 BC. It means if you get things that you desire, there may be unforeseen and unpleasant consequences. Samuel served as Israel’s last judge, and the first prophet after Moses. Despite his wise counsel and … [Read more…]
EPHESIANS 2:14-22 The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9th November 1989 was a significant event in world history which marked the falling of the Iron Curtain and the start of the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe. On that day in 1989, an announcement over East German TV informed people that they were … [Read more…]
LUKE 11:29-32 Signs are usually meant to give directions and provide information. In January 2002, a lone man predicted a natural disaster that would affect the lives of so many people. Dieudonne Wafulah had been studying Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for fifteen years. On January 8, he sent out an email to … [Read more…]
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