No Room For Hate

There seems to be a lot of hate going around these days—hatred toward people who are “different,” hatred toward political opponents, and even hatred toward friends or family members for a variety of reasons. But Christians must have no room in their hearts for such hatred. We are called to Read more…

Joy vs. Happiness

If you look up “happiness” and “joy” in the dictionary, there’s not much difference. Indeed, in my dictionary, one of the definitions of “happy” includes “joy,” and one of the definitions of “joy” includes “happy.” So is there a difference between “happiness” and “joy”? I believe there is. Let’s look Read more…

Be Perfect

During Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount,[1] he makes this startling statement: “Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”[2] Is he serious? Didn’t Paul tell us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”[3] and that we must rely on God’s grace rather than Read more…

Interesting Times

A famous saying—said to be an ancient Chinese curse, but more likely the product of British diplomats—is, “May you live in interesting times.” Joseph and Mary certainly lived in interesting times. Both were visited by angels (although Joseph’s visitation was in a dream) to prepare them for an unexpected pregnancy Read more…