Police officers train and prepare to use deadly force. They should. Yet in actual encounters between police and subjects, shootings are relatively rare. Yet they do happen, and if a negative public response follows, leaders may find themselves in a tough spot between family members who are understandably emotional and an officer, possibly a…

   Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan:  “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by…

“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12)    Solomon’s reign as king started great: “And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father:” (1 Kings 3:3) Yet look at what happened later!    “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of…

   “A proud look;” (Proverbs 6:17)    The term “the seven deadly sins” is from Proverbs 6:16-19: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to…

    “…if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot over- throw it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)    After Jesus’ resurrection, ascension into heaven, and Pentecost, His followers preached boldly in His name. The Jewish…

 The 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in Paris featured a group of men dressed as women on a bridge overlooking the River Seine where the Olympic athletes traveled by boat. Many people thought this scene mocked Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, “The Last Supper,” and in essence mocked the Christian faith. The Associated Press called it a…

“And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.” (1 Samuel 3:18)    Samuel was the son of Hannah and her husband Elkanah. Hannah could not have children. One day she prayed for a son, promising to “…give him unto…

   “And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:    Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.    How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in…

“The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)    Ruth Graham, wife of evangelist Billy Graham, once said, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” (Graham, Billy “Billy Graham: My Heart Aches for America,” 7/19/2012 billygraham.org) Sodom and Gomorrha were…

   “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:11)    God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against their sin. Jonah disobeyed and boarded a ship to Tarshish. God…

   “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)    You may recognize this line from the song, “The Hallelujah Chorus” in Handel’s “Messiah.” This line is not just a Bible passage, but also a prophecy. One day…

   “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16)    If people say, “I believe in God, but I don’t believe the Bible,” do they believe God gave us another way to know about Him, or no way at all…