During a visit to a funeral home some time ago, I ran across an interesting bro­chure. It was an advertisement for something called “Escape School.”

Escape School, it turns out, is a community program that teaches child­ren how to keep from becoming victims of kidnapping or assault. That this kind of program is necessary is a sad commentary on our so­ciety. But the danger is real. Many parents can’t even let their children walk to the corner by themselves, fearing they may be abducted by some psycho. I applaud families and communities…

Have you ever wondered where our English word “church” came from? The word evolved from the Old English cirice, which had its origins in the Germanic kirika, which was adapted from an ancient Greek term, kyriakon, meaning “the Lord’s [house].” You can detect a similar history of the word for “church” in many modern languages, from Swedish (kyrka) to Czech (cirkev) to Afrikaans (kerk). Even in Scottish dialect, a church is called a kirk.

Think on that for a moment: “church” derives from a word denoting the Lord’s house. What is the Lord’s…

In the first century, Roman engineer Sextus Julius Frontinus was so impressed by his world that he said, “Inventions have reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development.”

In 1895, British scientist Lord Kelvin declared, “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.”

In 1932, the great physicist Albert Einstein said, “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable.”

In 1977, computer industry pioneer Ken Olsen remarked, “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

Now, if you know the Plant City congregation, you might say we have plenty of Davids already! At present our number includes eight fine men by that name. Some of us have even joked about changing the name on our sign to “The House of David.”

But of course that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m referring to King David of Israel. He was not perfect, but God called him a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). This church, like every church, needs men and women like that. Specifically, every…

The purpose of a doctor is to help sick people get well, not to make them feel good about being sick.

The purpose of a road map is to help us get where we need to go, not to make us feel good about being where we are.

The purpose of a plumber is to fix your pipes, not to make you feel good about having a leak.

Despite some modern exceptions, the purpose of schools and teachers is to educate children, not to make them…

Sometimes the true test of a conviction comes when defending that conviction — or merely explaining it — causes someone else to view you as an enemy. When simply stating what the Bible says about an issue leads others to call you mean, repressive, or even un-Christ-like. When your efforts to teach someone the truth cause them to weep, not tears of regret or repentance, but the tears of someone who feels he is being treated unfairly. When a person paints you as being responsible for others’ heartache and suffering just because of what you…

“It’s broke, Daddy. Please, can you fix it?”

 Our daughter, age four, handed me the little ceramic nick-knack, her face full of worry. It wasn’t anything of value, but to her it was priceless. As I took the broken object from her hand, I realized just how much that little brown-eyed angel relied on me. I thought to myself, She believes I can fix anything.

It has been said that a child’s conception of God is based largely on what he sees in his parents — because they’re the…

2 Samuel 13 records a story filled with moral ugliness. Does it involve the denizens of some pagan city? A bunch of social outcasts? No, the players in this story are members of the royal family of David, king of Israel.

Amnon, the eldest son of David, became infatuated with his beautiful half-sister, Tamar (David’s daughter by another wife). Although the Biblical text uses the ordinary, broad Hebrew word for “loved,” it is clear that Amnon’s main interest in Tamar was sexual. But she was off limits to him. As the king’s…

2 Samuel 13 tells how Amnon, son of King David, became consumed with desire for his half-sister Tamar. Of course, his desire was a moral dead end; it could never be lawfully fulfilled. But Amnon dwelt on it until his frustration began to have a visible effect on him.

Amnon’s distress caught the attention of his friend Jonadab. The two young men were cousins, in fact: Jonadab was the son of Shimeah, a brother of King David. The Bible describes Jonadab as “shrewd” (Hebrew chakam). The word can mean skillful, wise, or prudent;…

A computer’s keyboard is a highly useful tool—provided everything is working properly.

But what if one of your hands is in the wrong position? All of a sudden, everutjomg ;ppls dofferemt.

Or what if one of the keys doesn’t work? Whn that happns, th whol pag looks lik this.

Or suppose a key made the wrong letter when you pressed it? (I remember having an old typewriter that sometimes did this.) Imagine if every time you hit “s” it typed “d” instead. It dure would medd thingd…

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many…

When the apostle Paul arrived in the city of Athens, he was “reasoning…in the market place every day with those who happened to be present” (Acts 17:17). This soon brought him into contact with men from some of the schools of philosophy for which Athens was famous. When they heard Paul, some of the philosophers sneered, “What would this babbler wish to say?” (verse 18).

“Babbler” here is literally “seed-picker” (Gr. spermologos). The term pictured a bird flitting about, picking up scattered seeds, and became slang for a person who went around…

“Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension” (1 Timothy 2:8).

In many churches today it is common for people to lift their hands during worship. Does this verse command us to do that? What is it all about?

The subject of this passage, going back to verse 1, is prayer (probably in the assemblies of the church). “Lifting up holy hands” in verse 8 refers to the custom of lifting one’s hands in prayer, which appears to have…