I have been reading a book titled, No God but One: Allah or Jesus? written by Nabeel Qureshi. He was a former Muslim who converted to Christianity after many years of study and the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in his life. I recently read the chapter “The Positive Case: Jesus was Always God,” in which he answers important questions such as: Was Jesus truly divine? Did Jesus ever claim…

We sang the song “The Blessing” in last Sunday’s worship service. The song contains the repeated refrain “Amen”. We hear the term “amen” a lot. It’s easy to use it as an automatic word at the end of a prayer, but the term has a special meaning in Scripture that we need to appreciate.

The word “amen” is from Hebrew and means “truly,” “certainly,” or “so be it.” We can find the word in many…

When 2020 began, I don’t think anyone imagined what it would become. Life as we have always known it has been radically altered. Even as we move toward reopening, a huge question faces all of us: How shall we now live? It’s not an easy question for anyone to answer, but it will most certainly be answered in a variety of ways within our church and our community.     

If I may reduce the answer…

Last week, I was reading a sermon delivered by Francis Grimke from the 15^th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington DC. Grimke had some good perspective on the flu epidemic, restrictions on gatherings, and how God will work during and after the epidemic.

Here are some of his points:

The fact that for several weeks we have been shut…

When I was applying for medical school, my wife and I had our heart set on staying in Columbus. Instead, I was accepted to the University of Cincinnati. We weren’t too thrilled with the move initially. We didn’t want to leave our church family and close friends. Yet we moved and I began medical school in Cincinnati. Over the first year of medical school, I met two guys who would become some of my…

Psalm 121 contains one of my favorite passages, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2). We undoubtedly face trials and need help from the Lord. Surely, one who can speak the heaven and earth into existence has the power to help us. The astounding thing is that he wants to come to our assistance.

As…

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

-Colossians 2:6-7

Even as we continue our study of James, I’m also spending time in Colossians. I’ve used the Dwell Bible App to listen to the book in its entirety a number of times (it takes 15 minutes…

At a recent evening small group, the opening question was: “What would you ask of God if you knew He would answer one request?” After a short moment of silence, several people said they just wanted to have a normal life like before. Others said they wanted to have a cure for the COVID-19. No one wished to become the richest person or the most powerful person in the world. People just wanted normalcy…

Has anyone ever told you “It’s all in your head”? Or, have you told someone “mind over matter”? Another turn of phrase you may hear is “get your head around” something. These idioms have issues with them, but we can turn to the Bible to see what God tells us about our minds.

1. Romans 12:2

² Do not be conformed to this world,…

All of us are under authority. This can be to our parents, our boss at work, local government, and even national government officials. Sometimes this can lead to frustration. Decisions can be made that affect us, and we may not understand the reasoning behind it. We may even ask ourselves if there really is a reason behind the decision.