Stewardship

Reflect “No fair!” How many times have you heard a child say that? Children have an intense desire for justice, but because they are still developing emotionally, their cries of unfairness often mean, “I didn’t get my way.” Nowadays, it seems, many youth and adults also have trouble distinguishing between justice and getting their own […]

Reflect When I was working in the admissions office at Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS), I got to talk with prospective students about their interest in seminary. Regardless of age, race, gender, or background, their stories all had at least one common element. They felt God was calling them to seminary. Some didn’t know exactly what […]

Reflect In 2 Kings 5:2-6, 9-14, Namaan’s listening to the servant girl’s faith was the beginning of his healing. The faith of children is incredible—just visit a children’s hospital like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (after the pandemic is over). Children are too young to be as skeptical as grown-ups. As Jesus said, we would […]

Reflect “With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s the philosophy of the Marvel Comics character, Spiderman. He certainly has great power—sticking to walls, shooting webs, amazing strength, and agility. But the thing which has endeared Spiderman to millions of readers is that as his alter-ego, Peter Parker, he has arguments with his wife, he was […]

Recently a friend of mine showed up for a meeting with a large stain on his white shirt. Several people were kind enough to point it out to him, and he responded with a sigh each time and said, “Well, I spilled a little coffee on myself, then tried to clean it up in the […]

First, it became fashionable for guys to have one ear pierced. Then tattooing surged in popularity. Then the piercing craze expanded in both genders to include every part of the body. Nowadays young people are actually having themselves branded! Fads and fashions come and go, and it’s a shame that some people alter their bodies […]

A mother was introducing her teenage daughter to the family’s tradition of preparing the Christmas ham. The first thing the mother did was cut off two inches from one end of the ham and set it aside. When the teenager asked why she did this, the mother replied, “That’s how I was taught.” Not satisfied, […]

Some rules of moral conduct are universal. Throughout history and across the world, most cultures have recognized certain behaviors as either bad or good. C.S. Lewis compiled a list of these universal morals, drawing from the historical and philosophical writings of ancient and not-so-ancient Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Greek, Roman, Chinese, Babylonian, Egyptian, Norse, French, Anglo-Saxon, […]

Several boys once took a hike along the railroad tracks on a foggy morning. When they came to a bridge they checked both ways for an approaching train, but saw none. However, when they got halfway across the bridge, they hear a train approaching in the dense fog. Realizing they could not make it to […]

Paul is instructing the Hebrew people by reminding them of the faithful from years gone by. He begins by giving the classic definition of faith and then proceeds through reminders of many who were outstanding in their faith. He told the Hebrews that through faith they can understand how the universe was formed. And that […]