Treasure Chest

We have been considering the profound blessings we have in Christ as our Good Shepherd (Psalm 23; John 10). When our 98 year old church member went to be with the Lord, her funeral service bulletin contained Psalm 23. Then verse six was fulfilled in her experience: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All…

Friends who live in Jerusalem testified of the renewed cycle of violence taking place around them. I was intrigued by their description of a local shepherd and how he calmed his little flock: “On Saturday morning, for the first time in three years, we had a major conflict on our street… Six Israeli jeeps of…

A friend of mine–who knows I enjoy puns–sent me this testimony about a fellow who tried to find work: “My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned because I couldn’t concentrate. Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn’t hack it, so they gave…

Imagine going to the doctor’s office with severe pain. Instead of identifying the symptoms and making an accurate diagnosis, the physician only guesses at the problem and gives you a pain-killer. Would that resolve the health problem? No. (I recall a young man from our church going to the hospital with seriious abdominal pain; he…

Ministry trips to Great Britain gave me the wonderful opportunity to see historic castles there. These fortresses have stood for centuries as bastions of defense in their area. The castle in Edinburgh, Scotland, for example, overlooks the city and tops the “royal mile” that leads to the Queen’s residence. Although castles today serve more as…

  From the archives of my memory comes a TV game show from the late 1950’s. It was called, “To Tell the Truth.” After quizzing some family and friends, I tracked down a description of the British version of this vintage program. Four celebrities come to play by asking questions of three protagonists. One of…

A hotel on the Niagara Peninsula parked a full scale antique trading ship next to it. It sits there silently in the waters of Lake Ontario. The vessel can no longer sail; it’s just a landmark. When I noticed the ship, I imagined the majestic sailing vessels that have traversed the world’s oceans for centuries.…

I vividly remember attending a seminar in 1990 at Ontario Bible College in Toronto. Luis Palau was in town to speak on vital Christian living and evangelism. I had appreciated his world-wide evangelistic ministry and sensed a spiritual integrity about him. I jumped at the opportunity to learn from him in person. Since it was…

Have you ever attempted to do a job on your own, only to discover that it was more than you could handle? The following accident report describes in excruciating detail one fellow’s traumatic experience working solo: “I am writing in response to your request that I explain in more detail what I meant by the…

In part one, we surveyed some foundational principles about the validity and purpose of Christ’s church. Now let’s look at the issue of our personal involvement in the local church. Although true believers in Christ have become part of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), some might still ask, is it really necessary to…