We were walking through Calcutta when we came across the temple of Kali. Curious, we walked to the gate and looked inside. A Hindu priest was holding a goat in one hand and holding up a knife in the other. To our surprise, he suddenly sacrificed the animal. He then dragged the goat through the temple to the Kali idol. As he did, the Kali devotees frantically collected the animal’s blood and poured it onto the idol. Our interpreter told us they did this because they believed

There are many religions in the world. As a result, people speak about different “faiths.” Used this way, the word’ faith’ refers to a set of beliefs people share. For example, people will say, “I am of the Hindu faith,” or “I am of the Buddhist faith.” Christians will even say, “I am of the Christian faith.” However, according to scripture, faith is not a set of shared beliefs. In the biblical economy of language, faith is (and always has been) trust in God’s provision for sin. Specifically, true saving faith trusts that Jesus paid the penalty for sin on the cross at Calvary. It’s for that reason the Bible says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Faith always and only looks

As our team crossed the finish line, we were all covered from head to foot in thick mud. There stood a preacher, a lawyer, a housewife, and a construction worker – all looking grimy and tired. The Marine Corps mud run taxed our strength and made us all look like we walked out of a pig pen. The only way to get clean was to allow someone to spray us down with a hose. In Romans 3:19-20, Paul observed that the law has only one real function: to expose our sin. As we stand before a holy God, our sin is like that mud. It indiscriminately covers all people and makes

There is an old saying, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” If something is good for one person, it should apply equally to another. Today, we talk about equality. The word implies impartiality and fairness. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world where pride creates a false sense of superiority. One of the worst forms of superiority can come when someone thinks they are better than another because

As I drove down the highway, I noticed a red light appeared on my dashboard warning me that my engine was overheating. I only had a short way to go. I thought I could make it to my destination. I ignored the warning sign, and within a minute, steam was pouring out from under the hood. Just a few minutes after the light came on, I found myself on the side of the road with a seized engine. The damage was complete. The engine was beyond repair.

As we travel the road of life, God has given us some

Introduction

Several years ago, there was a show on the TLC channel that followed the life of what, on the surface, seemed to be two ordinary parents. If you met them for the first time, you would see a couple in their forties who had a toddler. Nothing looked out of place. However, upon closer inspection, what was seen was two very frustrated parents who have been parents of a toddler for eighteen years. Their daughter had a very rare condition where her physical development simply stopped at eighteen months old. Even though she was eighteen, she looked like, acted like, and thought like a child who was one year and six months old. There was no hope that their daughter would ever grow up.

There are many churches who have people that look perfectly normal. However,