Recently my wife and I were re-watching the classic 1960 western The Magnificent Seven. If you’re not familiar with it, the movie is about seven tough guys who are hired by a poor farming village to fight off a marauding gang of bandits. The cast includes screen legends Yul Brynner, James Coburn, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson.

As we watched, I was struck by one scene in particular. Several of the village boys have taken a liking to one of the gunfighters, Bernardo O’Reilly (played by Bronson), and want to be like…

This week we celebrate our national Thanksgiving holiday. The holiday got its “official” start in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation inviting Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” Thanksgiving’s traditional origin dates much earlier, to a harvest feast celebrated in 1621 by the recently-arrived Plymouth colonists and local natives. Some date it even earlier, to a service of praise and thanksgiving held in 1579 during English captain Martin Frobisher’s expedition to the New World…

The unique expression of John is recorded in Revelation 1:10, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”  Of what other day could John be speaking than the first day of the week?  The first day is still a most significant day to the Lord’s people.

Each of the four narratives of Jesus’ life directs our attention to the day (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).  We should be careful not to overlook a fact so strongly emphasized – the day of Jesus’ dramatic resurrection.  The great day of Pentecost follows (Acts 2), a feast day that always…