Bible Lessons

T hings I Learned in Africa    I have some very dear friends who are right now in Africa on a mission trip.   While thinking about and praying for them, I remembered something I once wrote several years ago after returning from my first trip to Africa.   Here it is... 1.     People in Swaziland are very friendly, but they drive on the wrong side of the road.   Their hot and cold water faucets are also on opposite sides than we have. 2.     God is not exclusively American.   The Holy Spirit is alive and well and dwelling within the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Africa. 3.     There are still people who want to hear the word of God.   They’re glad to sit on the ground or on a rock outside their home.   They’re even willing to walk in wintertime darkness to gather with the church to learn more of what the Bible teaches. 4.     God blesses different people in different ways.   W...

God’s Wonderful Blessings    One afternoon a shopper at the local mall felt the need for a coffee break.  She bought herself a little bag of cookies and put them in her shopping bag.  After purchasing a cup of coffee, she found a place to sit at one of the crowded tables.  Taking the lid off her coffee and taking out a magazine, she began to sip her coffee and read.  Across the table from her a man sat reading a newspaper. After a minute or two she reached out and took a cookie.  As she did, the man seated across the table reached out and took one too.  This put her off, but she did not say anything.  A few moments later she took another cookie.  Once again the man did so too.  Now she was getting a bit upset, but still she did not say anything. After having a couple of sips of coffee, she once again took another cookie.  So did the man.  She was really up...

Do You Believe in the Power of Prayer?    While crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner, a preacher was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request, he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of the preacher's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon that same preacher went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the a gnostic, who claimed he just wanted to "hear what the babbler had to say." Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. He noticed that her hands were open, and so in the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pie...

Keep Your Behavior Excellent    In 1 Peter 2:12, the apostle Peter tells us, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” In other words, be careful because people are watching. Perhaps you’ve heard the following story… A woman pulls up to a red light behind one other car. She notices the driver of the car in front of her is talking on his  cell phone and appears to be shuffling through some papers on the seat beside him. The light turns green, but the man doesn't notice. The woman waits, but the man doesn't notice the light change. The woman begins pounding on her steering wheel and yelling at the man to move. The man doesn't move. The woman is going ballistic inside her car, ranting and raving at the man, pounding on her steering wheel and dash. The light turns yellow. The woman begins to blow th...

Don't Walk Alone    The following article is from an email that was sent to me once by a dear friend (who, coincidentally, was diagnosed with breast cancer just a short time later)... My cousin, Donnie, lost his beautiful sweet wife to pancreatic cancer earlier this month. Jeannine was a precious person. She touched the lives of many people, family, and friends. Jeannine and I were not as close as we had been in the past due to raising children and busy lives, but there are some things that will always be with me because of her. When our grandmother was in a nursing home in Chatom, Jeannine and I would travel, with her little one, Kimberly, to visit Nanny every Friday. Jeannine began visiting Nanny long before I had the opportunity to travel with her. We would load up her little car with the walker and car-seat and head to Chatom. Jeannine enjoyed this so much. She told me one of the reasons was so that Nanny could enjoy Kimberly as much as she could in her last years on ...

A Godly Man    Psalm 101 is a great outline of what a godly man, a godly husband, and a godly father should be like. David wrote this Psalm as a profession of his desire for personal integrity. Through all of these verses, we can insert a godly man and see what we should strive to be and accept. 1. A godly man will sing of loving kindness and justice. To You, O Lord, a godly man will sing praises. (Verse 1) Men should not be afraid to express the love that they have for God. If we tru ly love God, then He will radiate through us no matter what. 2. A godly man will give heed to the blameless way. A godly man will walk within his house in the integrity of his heart. (Verse 2) Men of God should strive each and every day to walk down the middle of the straight and narrow path that He has set before us. We should be careful about allowing ourselves to sway from side to side. 3. A godly man will set no worthless thing before his eyes. A godly man hates the work of those wh...

Perseverance    Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish composer-pianist, was once scheduled to perform at a great American concert hall for a high-society extravaganza. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage. Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing Chopsticks. The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, “Get  that boy away from there!” When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a countermelody to Chopsticks. As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, “Keep going. Don’t quit, son; don’t stop. You’re doing great. Just keep on going.” That is kind of what Paul wrote to the Philippians. You’ve read and heard about the apostle Paul and t...