The Best Christian Teachings and Readings

I clipped on my seat belt and stared out the window. Today would be a difficult day. The Los Angeles Times lay folded on my lap. I spread out the front page and stared again at the tragic headlines, “TWELVE DIE IN PLANE CRASH.” As the Texas-bound jet took off, my mind tried to grasp the implications of that crash - death is so final, so absolute in its separation of earthly friends. Just a few days ago I sat with Keith by a river in Colorado as he excitedly shared his dreams for the future. Now, he had suddenly graduated - gone to be with Jesus. I looked at my hands. “Our bodies are so fragile,” I thought. “How much longer do I have to live?” My soul stared into eternity and earthly anxieties seemed to fade away. “My life must count. It must fulfill its purpose, I can't waste the brief opportunity of life.” The man next to me looked confident, wealthy, and secure. The image of a successful executive. But this time I wasn't going to be intimidated. “Have you seen the...

Do you have jealousy in your heart? How much of your motivation comes from this apparently fickle feeling? "Not much" you might say, but do you really understand the devastating power and subtlety of this inner passion? You’ll be surprised at God’s perspective on this subject. In our daily lives jealousy towards God is simply evidenced by our refusal to give Him credit for what He alone has done. We withhold from Him that acknowledgment of His worthiness. Thanksgiving and praise are stifled by jealousy and envy. A Handful Of Nothing- Jealousy is the universal motive of the human heart in all work and skill development unless the life of Jesus is being lived through us on a daily basis. We find this sweeping statement in the book of Ecclesiastes 4:4,6: "Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work comes from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving a...

Have you ever wondered what God thinks of you? Is it hard for you to believe He loves you as much as the Bible says He does? God is so big and He sometimes seems so distant - but what is He really like? Do you really know Him? You've heard His instructions, but do you know anything about His emotions or His character? One of the most wonderful revelations of the Bible is that God is our Father. What do you think of when you hear the word "father"? Do you automatically think of protection, provision, warmth, and tenderness? Or does the word "father" paint different kinds of pictures for you? God reveals Himself in the Bible as a gentle, forgiving Father, intimately involved with each and every detail of our lives. It is not only a beautiful picture, but a true one. However, every person seems to have a different idea of what God is like, because they unconsciously tend to attach the feelings and impressions that they have of their own earthly father to their ...