I am bringing Moses home this afternoon in my time machine. We will arrive in the woods. That won’t shock him too much. He’s used to trees and pastures. “Things sure are green here in the future.” “Well, this is the Texas Gulf Coast—the Texas Hill Country looks more like Israel.” As we emerge fromContinue reading “The Time Machine.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
I am the Master of My Fate.
Have you met the soft and unmotivated? Heard people complain they were too hungry to get up and find food? Seen teenagers who collapse facing easy tasks? America was built on self-reliance: if you want something, work for it. Hitch up your oxen, head into the wilderness, cut down the trees, pull up stumps, plowContinue reading “I am the Master of My Fate.”
Words That Matter.
Words that matter are spoken, repeated, memorized, written down, stamped on signs, engraved on statues, monuments, and buildings, used as decoration—on tee shirts, bumper stickers, throw pillows, refrigerator magnets, hung in picture frames, and even stenciled on the walls of our homes. Bible words matter most. When I was a child, I saw decorative itemsContinue reading “Words That Matter.”
Blessed. Deuteronomy 6:12-14.
In America, we are so blessed, aren’t we? We have great food, clean water, nice homes, education, peace, friends, family, churches—what don’t we have? Is there anything wrong with being so blessed? There is one risk. When people are blessed and life is good, they forget God. They ALWAYS forget God. It’s the same patternContinue reading “Blessed. Deuteronomy 6:12-14.”
What About the Old Testament?
We people of the New Testament have a weird relationship to the Old. Do we obey it or not? We avoid murder but approve eating shrimp and pork? We ignore dietary laws, but honor the BIG TEN? If so, why do we shrug off adultery? And why do we disregard the Sabbath? Some treatContinue reading “What About the Old Testament?”
Bald Samson.
God called His people to be different. Holy. Set apart. A “peculiar people.” The nation followed complex food laws. They circumcised every male child. They sacrificed animals. They never worked on Saturday. Sometimes God’s “Peculiar People” must have felt peculiar. Within Israel, there were individuals whose lives were even more peculiar: Levites, priests, and NaziritesContinue reading “Bald Samson.”
Stop Praying About it!
Jesus spends hours in prayer. He tells stories encouraging us to do the same, first of a judge who gives in because he is tired of a widow’s pleas. In another story, a man has locked his door and gone to bed but gets up to give bread to his neighbor because the neighbor willContinue reading “Stop Praying About it!”
Nation Shopping. Deut. 4:6,8-9.
A retired couple recently moved from the United States to Thailand. Why Thailand? Because their retirement income, meager by US standards, made them wealthy in Thailand. They bought a mansion in the country and hired both a maid and a cook. They lived like kings and traveled constantly, convinced they had discovered the secret toContinue reading “Nation Shopping. Deut. 4:6,8-9.”
Peer Pressure.
What’s the big deal about peers? Do they have the influence everyone claims? Yes. Here’s why: Thus, peers have an influence because 1) you want to be liked, 2) you are inexperienced and peers seem more knowledgeable about… EVERYTHING, and 3) when all you see are foolish peers, the foolish appears normal. God knows theContinue reading “Peer Pressure.”
Judgment of the Gods.
We expect God to judge people. He punishes evil people throughout the Bible. He punished Cain by banishment. He punished the pagan world with a flood. He punished Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from heaven. He punished idolatrous, treasonous Israelites when the earth swallowed them in an earthquake. But did you know God also judgesContinue reading “Judgment of the Gods.”
Household Words: 