When king Solomon died, his son Rehoboam was set to take the throne of Israel. The people, even under wise Solomon’s rule, had endured the burdens of living in a monarchy (just as God had warned— see 1 Samuel 8:11ff). But now, sensing an opportunity for change, they asked Rehoboam to lighten those burdens (1 Kings 12).

Before answering the people, Rehoboam consulted the older men who had served his father. Their good counsel was this: “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and grant…

At some point in each of our lives we will face a point of uncertainty, a point of confusion and a point in which we’re not sure that things will get better. It is at this point in time I have been reminded of Isaiah 40 verses 30 through 31 which says, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be…

Steps are interesting things. Often, the process of how things work in our lives are divided into steps, steps we have to follow in order to succeed. All of us have stories of past experiences that demonstrate to us that missing a step, even a small one, can ruin a project. Maybe we didn't follow the step of stirring our paint thoroughly before applying it to our walls, and therefore the color didn't spread evenly. Perhaps missing a step while building our Ikea bookcase eventually caused those shelves to collapse and books to fall to the floor. In building a…

Jesus' disciples were on the sea, being tossed about by a violent storm, and Jesus rebukes them for being afraid, saying "O you of little faith."  The disciples find themselves unable to cast out a demon, and Jesus attributes their ineffectiveness to their "little" faith.  The disciples fail to understand Jesus' teachings and again he says "O you of little faith."  Even though these disciples were often criticized for their little faith, it's hard to see men like Peter, James, and John in that light.  Didn't they leave everything behind to follow Jesus?  Didn't…

My wife and I are not coffee drinkers, so we don’t get into Starbucks very often. But one visit a couple of years ago made a distinct impression on me. Our first granddaughter had just been born, and on our way to the hospital we stopped at Starbucks to grab some coffee for our son.

The thing that struck me was what we saw when we first got out of the car. Parked in front of the store were a bicycle and push cart that belonged to a pair of homeless people.…