I would ask you to seriously consider the question posed in the title of this post. In fact, I would ask you to answer each question below, prayerfully contemplating each question and your answer before moving on to the next question: Am I a good person? Can...
One of my favorite expressions is “We are all a work in progress.” Most people who use it, however, don’t understand that it is literally true for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Someone is working on us: God. He...
Today is baptism Sunday at Samaritan’s Heart. Two sisters in Christ in our church family (and I) will enter Lake Michigan’s waters as they publicly acknowledge the surrender of their lives to Jesus. Whenever I’m having a conversation about Samaritan’s Heart with parents of young...
In her book “The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line," Retired Major General Mari K. Eder tells the stories of women who played a vital role in World War II, but received little to no acclaim for their efforts. One story is a bit different...
I recently had one of those “wait, what?” moments while reading Luke’s Gospel. It comes in Chapter 22: 39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He...
They Were Not Alone Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church kicked off 2024 (which now seems a lifetime ago) with the theme “you are not alone.” I recently read a devotional by author Paul Tripp that I believe speaks to that theme and serves as a good mid-year...
Known as the “Father of the Nation” in post-colonial India, Mahatma Ghandi preached change through non-violent protest. Ultimately, he was assassinated. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. studied Ghandi’s non-violent philosophy and applied it to the U.S. Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and ‘60s (There...
This question may sound like the setup to a joke, but it isn’t: Who was the first Jewish lawyer? Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz answers the question in the title of one of his books: Abraham: The World’s First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer. Dennis...
It is quite possibly the most reassuring moment in the entire Bible. Jesus hangs on the cross, about to die for your sins and mine. To either side of Him hang two criminals. Mark and Matthew report that the thieves mock, insult, and ridicule Him...
It’s one of the verses unbelievers use as a “gotcha” verse to challenge believers. It comes very early in the Bible: Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done....