Steven Wales

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY? 3 John 4.

Pictured: Willie Wales, 1897 – 1985. What is your greatest joy? Good grades? Good friends? Traveling? Winning? Achieving? Finishing? The question is easier if you are a parent—because a parent’s greatest joy concerns children. You will have other joys—but children will dominate the top of the list. The Apostle John probably wrote the letter ofContinue reading “WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY? 3 John 4.”

A Stranger in a Strange Land. 1 John 2.

Have you ever felt like a refugee or a fugitive? Those words aren’t just for the nightly news: it can happen to anyone. European Jews moving to America to escape Nazis? Fugitives. People in Mexico, on the run from the government of Honduras? Fugitives. Russians in the U.S. on the run from the Soviet KGB?Continue reading “A Stranger in a Strange Land. 1 John 2.”

WRITING IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE. 2 John 12

Why would career fishermen become writers? Talk about a career pivot. John explains why he writes: “We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” 1 John 1:4. “I am writing you so that you may not sin” 2:1. He says he writes to those who have been forgiven, know God, haveContinue reading “WRITING IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE. 2 John 12”

HARD TO UNDERSTAND. 2 Peter 3:16.

My back hurts. My shoulders hurt. My arms hurt. I’m tired from swinging a heavy tool to remove a wet tile floor from a flooded house. It was not easy, but I got it done. Y’all understand hard work. I know you do. Sometimes a task seems insurmountable, but you simply have no choice. SoContinue reading “HARD TO UNDERSTAND. 2 Peter 3:16.”

Lost in the Forest Without a Flashlight. 1 John 1.

Have you ever been in a dark forest without a flashlight? I have. More than once I have found myself trudging cross-country (where there was no trail) on a dark, moonless night. It can be so dark. You end up walking with one hand in front of your face to block the spider webs, theirContinue reading “Lost in the Forest Without a Flashlight. 1 John 1.”

Be Faithful to the Basics: You Learn By Repetition. 2 Peter 1:12.

Photo from the Sault Star, Salt Ste. Marie, Ontario 1972. Every time I left the house as a little boy my mother said, “Be careful.” It was such a constant greeting that I interpreted it more as a salutation than actual advice. “Be careful” was her way of saying goodbye—or that’s what it seemed likeContinue reading “Be Faithful to the Basics: You Learn By Repetition. 2 Peter 1:12.”

Scoffers, Blasphemers, and Conspiracy Theorists. Jude 10, 18-19.

I know a man who recently divorced his wife. That may not sound unusual, but the two had been married over fifty years. They were grandparents and in their seventies. Why did they get divorced? Because Mrs. Divorce had recently become a more and more devoted follower of one of our presidential candidates. Mr. DivorceContinue reading “Scoffers, Blasphemers, and Conspiracy Theorists. Jude 10, 18-19.”

THIS IS NOT MELATONIN. Ezekiel 44:5; 2 Timothy 2:15.

Sometimes Bible reading is like mood music in a department store—humming along quietly in the background, but no one’s really listening. You may call your devotional a “Quiet Time,” but your mind should NOT be quiet—it should be buzzing with thoughts about what you’re reading. Consider how we sell Bibles. Are they surrounded by teaContinue reading “THIS IS NOT MELATONIN. Ezekiel 44:5; 2 Timothy 2:15.”

STUDY THE WORD. 2 Timothy 2:15.

My Facebook profile pic this week is a quotation from a great preacher: “You can live on froth, bubbles, and little wisps of badly understood theology until the pressure is on. But when the pressure is on, you will want to know what kind of God you are serving” —A.W. Tozer. I posted this forContinue reading “STUDY THE WORD. 2 Timothy 2:15.”