“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3 NKJV). It may well be that the greatest chasm between the first-century church and the modern twenty-first-century church is in the very way we respond to this promise of Christ to “come again.” His promised return is virtually a forgotten subject in our more sophisticated Sunday gatherings. When was the last time you remember hearing a message on the second coming of Christ, this coming great and climactic event in all […]

Adam and Eve were rooted out of the Garden, Cain was booted from his land and Noah’s descendants scooted out of Babel when God confused their language. Abram scooted from his country when God promised to make his descendants a great nation, Hagar and Ishmael were booted out of the family home with the arrival of Isaac, and Lot was rooted out of Sodom prior to its destruction. Exile was at the heart of these events, and these encompass less than half of the first book of the Bible. From old to new Forced absence from one’s country or home […]

I think we could all use a little infusion of hope just about now. I don’t believe anyone would say that the last few years have been the best. Ever since the onset of COVID-19, all that was solid, familiar, and safe seems to have been jarred shockingly loose. Social media, once a place to connect with “friends,” is now a hotbed of harsh and hurtful diatribes. Family members won’t speak to each other because of sharp political disagreements. Many of our major cities have degenerated into debauched crime zones. Everything from automobiles to groceries to insurance is considerably more […]