My friend Raleigh is sprinting toward his eighty-fifth birthday Since my first conversation with him more than thirty-five years ago he rsquo s been a source of inspiration When he recently mentioned that since retiring he rsquo d completed a book manuscript and started another ministry initiative mdash I was intrigued but not surprised nbsp At eighty-five Caleb in the Bible wasn rsquo t ready to stop either His faith and devotion to God had sustained him through decades of wilderness living and wars to secure the inheritance God had promised Israel He said ldquo I am still as strong [... more]

My sister brother and I flew from our separate states to our uncle rsquo s funeral and stopped to see our ninety-year-old grandmother She rsquo d been paralyzed by a stroke had lost the ability to speak and had only the use of her right hand As we stood around her bed she reached out that hand and took each of our hands placing one atop another over her heart and patted them in place With this wordless gesture my grandmother spoke into what had been our somewhat broken and distant sibling relationship ldquo Family matters rdquo In God rsquo [... more]

Hebrews cheers us on calling us to Lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees in the middle of difficulty If we are in Christ then we belong to our good Father God When we remember whose we are and the home we are heading to we can endure with joy and patience In today's message Pastor Rich unpacks the encouragement in Hebrews - reminding us to keep walking ahead with the end in view [... more]

A good parent does not immediately satisfy a child's every want and whim because a good parent is concerned for that child's character future and heart attitude [... more]

During my morning walk the sun hit the waters of Lake Michigan at a perfect angle to produce a stunning view I asked my friend to stop and wait for me as I positioned my camera to take a pic Because of the position of the sun I couldn rsquo t see the image on my phone rsquo s screen before I snapped the shot But having done this before I sensed it would be a great picture I told me friend ldquo We can rsquo t see it now but pictures like this always come out good rdquo Walking [... more]

Today is the first message in a subseries called Living By Faith The word faith is thrown around in both religious and secular circles You might hear it on a Disney movie at a football game or at a healing service The word faith can be ambiguous and confusing today What does the Bible mean when it calls us to live by faith [... more]

In his poem ldquo The Witnesses rdquo Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ndash described a sunken slave ship As he wrote of ldquo skeletons in chains rdquo Longfellow mourned slavery rsquo s countless nameless victims The concluding stanza reads ldquo These are the woes of Slaves They glare from the abyss They cry from unknown graves We are the Witnesses rdquo But who do these witnesses speak to Isn rsquo t such silent testimony futile There is a Witness who sees it all When Cain murdered Abel he pretended nothing had happened ldquo Am I my brother rsquo s keeper rdquo he [... more]

From the spiral staircase to the expansive bedroom from the hardwood floors to the plush carpeting from the huge laundry room to the well-organized office the realtor showed a potential home to the young couple At every corner they turned they raved about its beauty ldquo You rsquo ve picked the best place for us This house is amazing rdquo Then the realtor responded with something they thought a bit unusual yet true ldquo I rsquo ll pass along your compliment to the builder The one who built the house deserves the praise not the house itself or the one [... more]

Nokia became the world rsquo s best-selling mobile phone company in and saw profits rise to nearly four billion dollars in But by sales were diminishing and soon the failing phone brand was acquired by Microsoft One factor in Nokia rsquo s mobile division failure was a fear-based work culture that led to disastrous decisions Managers were afraid to tell the truth about the Nokia phone rsquo s inferior operating system and other design problems for fear of being fired King Ahaz of Judah and his people were fearful mdash ldquo shaken as the trees of the forest are shaken [... more]

After another week of being beaten down by more medical setbacks I slumped onto the sofa I didn rsquo t want to think about anything I didn rsquo t want to talk to anybody I couldn rsquo t even pray Discouragement and doubt weighed me down as I turned on the television I began watching a commercial showing a little girl talking to her younger brother ldquo You rsquo re a champion rdquo she said As she continued affirming him his grin grew So did mine God rsquo s people have always struggled with discouragement and doubt Quoting Psalm which [... more]

Denmark is among the happiest countries in the world according to the World Happiness Report The Danes weather their lengthy dark winters by gathering with friends to share a warm drink or a gracious meal The word they use for the feelings associated with those moments is hygge hoo-gah Hygge helps them offset the impact of enjoying less sunlight than their counterparts at lower latitudes By circling around a simple table with loved ones their hearts are nourished and rejuvenated The writer of Hebrews encourages this idea of gathering together as a community He acknowledges that there will be difficult [... more]

A man named James took an adventurous -mile journey down the West Coast of the US mdash biking from Seattle Washington to San Diego California A friend of mine met the ambitious biker near the cliffs of Big Sur miles from his starting point After learning that someone had recently stolen James rsquo camping gear my friend offered his blanket and sweater but James refused He said that as he traveled south into the warmer climate he needed to begin shedding items And the closer he got to his destination the more tired he became so he needed to reduce [... more]

Gripped by the gravity of the promises he was making to LaShonne Jonathan found himself stumbling as he repeated his wedding vows He thought How can I make these promises and not believe they rsquo re possible to keep He made it through the ceremony but the weight of his commitments remained After the reception Jonathan led his wife to the chapel where he prayed mdash for more than two hours mdash that God would help him keep his promise to love and care for LaShonne Jonathan rsquo s wedding-day fears were based on the recognition of his human frailties [... more]

Inspired by the Holy Spirit the writer of Hebrews used his entire letter to describe Christ's once-for-all atoning death Discover the radical turning point in history when Jesus accomplished His mission on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg Listen [... more]

When Jesus came With this transitional phrase the writer of Hebrews describes how Christ radically transformed the old covenant to establish His new covenant Study this amazing before-and-after story with us on Truth For Life with Alistair Begg Listen [... more]

The writer of Hebrews shows us how the old covenant administered by the priesthood was a shadow of something better God's people needed a Great High Priest but what would this look like Find out when you listen to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg Listen [... more]