We have come at last to temperance, the last of nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit as that fruit is outlined by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5. The word “temperance” in the original (Greek), we are told, means literally “inner strength.” It refers here to the strength of character which enables one […]
Just how important is meekness in the estimation of God? The Apostle Peter, who wrote by the inspiration of the Spirit, declared it to be a grace of the highest order. He says of the “ornament of a meek and quiet spirit’’ that it is “in the sight of God of great price” (I Pet. […]
“Whither goest thou?” “Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now.” “Why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.” ******* The scene is the upper room. The exchange was between two men, one a mere man, the other the Son of man. Both make what amounts to […]
“When the Son of man shall come in all his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he […]
There are some people, are there not, with whom it’s just plain difficult to get along. Others there are whose engaging personality makes it a pleasure to associate with them. To the latter, one is easily and quickly drawn. Such people have a way of putting others at ease in their presence. For whatever the […]
“If that idiot-driver at the head of the line had not been sleeping when the light turned, I could have made it through!’’ Have you ever heard anyone say that. . .or said it yourself? For that matter, how often do you go through an entire day without hearing a single snide remark about somebody […]
Late on Christmas eve last year a pickup truck, having gone out of control on a snow-covered and slippery stretch of M-50 slid off the highway and overturned in the ditch. No one witnessed the accident. A few cars did pass that way during the next quarter of an hour or so, but, with nothing […]
That love, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, and other of the fruit of the Spirit were manifest in all their perfection in the life of Christ goes almost without saying. But what about “joy”? One is inclined to wonder if we might perhaps be hard pressed to discover even a single occasion for joy in all the […]
There is, as you probably remember from your Junior High science class, a law of physics which declares that water seeks its own level. And if you don’t remember learning about that “law” in school, you certainly know of it from easy and frequent observation. Think, for example, of the water in a teakettle. You […]
The following article is the substance of a beginning-of-the-year chapel speech delivered last September by Mr. Don Doezema, principle of Covenant Christian High School. Some years ago I ran across a picture entitled “The Christ of the Snow.” I have it here with me today. At first glance this picture appears to be nothing […]