Weekly Perspective

Why is violence becoming such an established part of everyday life? This question is broad since violence occurs within families, in the local community, in our cities, and across the national spectrum. It can be an assault, a riot in a major city, a mass shooting, or road rage. Murder rates in the largest U.S…

Are you a hopeful person? In other words, as you look to the future, do you anticipate good things? We might (or might not) say, “Yes, I am hopeful but possibly not as hopeful as I should be.” That statement might fit a fair percentage of us. The fact is, however, that we can each…

As we move along on our annual Holy Day journey, let’s be sure to carry the things we have rehearsed forward with us. For example, in the instruction regarding the wave sheaf offering, Israel was told, “You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought…

–> This weekend we consider aspects associated with Christ building His Church. In particular, we think about what being a part of the body of Christ means to us as individuals. We are clearly moving deeper into events that shape the end of the age – that period of time that Christ said would be…

–> In Deuteronomy 32 we find the parting words of Moses written as a song which he openly read to the entire congregation of Israel.  The purpose of the song was to “…proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God…” (verse 3) as the eternal “Rock” of the people of God.  In…

Henry Ward Beecher once said, “A helping word to one in trouble is often like a switch on a railroad track… an inch between a wreck and smooth, rolling prosperity.” There are proverbs that convey the very same principle, but the image of a horrific train wreck being averted by mere words is very powerful…

In the book of Matthew, Jesus Christ reassures His followers: “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The question that we need to ask ourselves is, “Do we have the confidence in Christ and in God the Father to really believe His promise to be with…

God’s word instructs us to be very aware of what other members of the body are going through in their lives. “… members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it …” (1 Corinthians 12:25-26). Many members suffer negative experiences in life. James did…

We always reflect on the death of Christ at this season of the year. Movies have been made about that pivotal point in mankind’s history. A lot of focus, and rightly so, has been put upon the gruesome beating and resulting disfigurement that finally ended Christ’s physical life. Isaiah said this of it. “Just as…

What does the word “overcome” evoke in you? Does the thought of overcoming seem negative and uninviting in your mind? On the other hand, does it fill your mind with eager anticipation of something new, deeper, and more fulfilling than ever before? The natural man doesn’t get any uplift with the idea of overcoming. The…

As one political commentator observed this week, “Clearly, the West is in serious trouble.” I read it this way – clearly, the modern-day nations of Israel are in serious trouble! We, as God’s people, are being prepared to work with Christ in serving humanity as it crawls out from under a time that has never…

Have you ever wrestled over the term, “God’s true Church”? Surely it is either God’s Church or it is not. If it is God’s Church, then it would be true. “… the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). However, we all know that the real issue is that many different churches of varying beliefs…

The natural function of man’s mind is to limit God. It is a human proclivity to try and put a box around God – using human intellect to attempt to define God’s invisible attributes. A recent article posed a question that was originally attributed to Einstein: “If there is a God who created the entire…