James 1:1-4 Sometimes, in the first couple sentences of a book, you can tell if reading it would be a waste of time. If you are reading about taking walks in the forest and the first sentence is: “If you see a snake, pick it up by its tail and see if it is poisonous,”…
Matthew 1:18-25, 2:13-15 If you were sitting here at RIC one year ago, which of the events of 2011 would you have predicted? There had already been two weeks of demonstrations in Tunisia, but would you have predicted there would be a regime change in not only Tunisia, but also Egypt and Libya? Or would…
Matthew 2:1-11 The origin of giving gifts at Christmas has a number of different sources. In Matthew’s gospel we read that the magi came to see Jesus in Bethlehem, about a year after he was born, with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Although this is a logical precedent for giving gifts at Christmas, it…
Hebrews 10:19-25 I had a very rich month in the US. I had a couple days with my daughter and her family in Boston and then began my tour. I flew south to Philadelphia, west to Los Angeles, north to San Francisco, east to Chicago, east to Columbus and then east again to Boston. After…
Acts 17:10-15 What are the top five best-selling books of all time? According to Wikipedia, in order of sales, the top selling book of all time is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens written in 1859. Second comes The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien written in 1954–1955. Third comes…