Last year, a social media post on the “X” (formerly Twitter) account of Sesame Street’s beloved character Elmo unexpectedly went viral.

The post was simple and innocent: “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” But it elicited thousands of depressing responses — what some mental health professionals refer to as a “trauma dump.” A few examples:

“Not feeling too tickled about life right now, Elmo.”

“Elmo, I’m suffering from existential dread over here.”

“Elmo, my man, you been to the grocery…

Like a Fish Out of Water

The phrase “like a fish out of water” needs little explanation if you’ve ever actually
seen a fish out of water. What was a few moments before the definition of grace
and beauty suddenly becomes a wriggling, flopping, creature bent on chaos.
Now imagine seeing a fish swimming along in a clear mountain stream, living his
best fish life. Then someone comes along and snatches him out of the water,
tosses him onto the grass, and declares him, “Free from the bondage of water!!!”
Keep that image in mind for just a few minutes.
We…

In John chapter 3 (part of our Bible reading for this week), some disciples of John the Baptist come to him to report that Jesus is baptizing people — “and all are coming to Him” (verse 26). It was starting to look as though Jesus would make more disciples than John (see John 4:1), and some of John’s followers and friends found it troubling.

But John wasn’t troubled. His mission from God was to prepare the way for the Messiah. “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from…

…the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:20-21, NASB).

Once when I referred to this passage to show the role of baptism in God’s plan of salvation, a friend of mine objected. He…

“Speak, Lord, Your Servant Hears”

( 1 Sam. 3:9, 10)

The book of First Samuel begins with the story of Samuel’s birth and youth.
Many of us first heard it in our own young years in Bible class. As told to
children, the story focuses on the child Samuel. We learned how Hannah his
mother grieved over being childless, and how she promised God that, if he gave
her a son, she would give the boy back for God’s service. We learned that Samuel
was turned over to Eli the priest and spent his youth “ministering to the LORD (1
Sam. 3:1).”…

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Victimless Sin?

“Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled;
but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” – Hebrews 13:4
In recent years our society has taken a very libertine stance toward sexual sins.
“What is the big deal?” we are asked. “When two consenting adults engage in
sexual intercourse no one is harmed. It is a victimless sin.” We are told that what
two people do in private is no one else’s business. They tell us that the traditional
religious requirement that sex be confined to marriage is outdated.
Fornication is not, in fact, a victimless sin. The ills…

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Do Scientists Believe in God?

Atheists are sometimes heard to say, “All real scientists reject the notion that
there is a God.” If that were true it would not prove whether God exists. History
is filled with times when the consensus of the “experts” later proved to be wrong.
In reality, many of the world’s best scientific minds have believed that there is
compelling evidence to support belief in an intelligent creator. The so-called
“Scientific Revolution” actually began because men believed that the physical
universe is governed by laws which can be studied and understood – laws
established by a great…