Week Thirty-One, 2025

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master (Proverbs 25:13).

Does it really snow in Israel? It sure does. There’s the Mount Hermon ski resort in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The ski resort is open only at the peak of winter. It has a top elevation of 6,690 ft. The resort includes a wide range of ski trails for novice, intermediate, and expert levels. It also offers additional winter family activities such as sledding and Nordic skiing.

Surprising? Yes… We usually think of Israel as being parched desert. After winter, the snow begins to melt and form the headwaters of the Jordan River in the Golan Heights. I have been there and tasted the pure water of the melted snow. The Jordan flows south, forming the border between Israel and Jordan. Along the way, the river picks up nutrients that farmers use for irrigation.

Finally, the Jordan flows into the Dead Sea, which is dead because all life is extinguished. There is no exit to the Dead Sea; it chokes on the abundance of its trapped nutrients.

The Dead Sea has no outlet. The only way water exits the sea is by evaporation. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind dissolved minerals, making the water even saltier. I swam there, perched high on the water. One cannot sink in the Dead Sea. So, here is the Biblical application: The Dead Sea takes in all the goodness and gives out none of it. Our lives can be like that. If we merely take in the goodness God gives us in life and we don’t share it with the world, we choke on our goodness. Blessings and positive experiences should be shared to benefit others and create a positive impact for others and for the world.

Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22. Goodness isn’t just about doing what’s right. It’s about actively choosing to be kind, generous, and understanding towards others, even when we don’t have to. It’s about going the extra mile to spread positivity and care.

Those who know the Lord are called to bring light into the darkness of human existence. That light is Jesus. Spread the Light!

Have you done that today?

Sometimes True Stories

On Judgment Day, do you think God will accept a Platinum American Express, a Gold MasterCard, or your bank account to determine if you deserve to spend eternity with Jesus? Our wealth may open doors in this life, but it will be ignored in the next. When we build our foundation on earthly things and fail to respect the gifts from our Lord, we are setting ourselves up for destruction. I have been very fortunate to become friends with lots of rich people, and my observation tells me that money does not buy happiness, nor salvation for our souls. Only God can provide salvation for our souls, if we only humble ourselves and accept His Grace. Tony Ferguson

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Nearly thirty million more US adults are following Jesus today than was the case just four years ago, according to Barna. The CEO, David Kinnaman, called this “the clearest trend we’ve seen in more than a decade pointing to spiritual renewal.” He notes that this movement is being led especially by “younger generations.”

Life seems to go in stages of preparing yourself to gain wealth, getting wealth, and then worrying about how to keep it. The world measures wealth in precious metals or stones, dollars, power, influence or cryptocurrencies. Work toward becoming a billionaire, they say.

However, how does one’s wealth translate to meaning, purpose, health and happiness? You really can’t buy any of these things.

Real wealth is measured in relationships and character. How, then, do you acquire real wealth? You do that by spending time in God’s instruction book for life, the Bible. It will help you learn, gain, and maintain the real wealth we all seek. Be that kind of billionaire. Dig in. Rich Jensen

Quotes You Can Use

When God fulfills His Word concerning the end times and begins to pour out His judgment upon the earth, people will know that He is God. Dan Shock

Taking credit for what God has done is always a dangerous thing. Florida Marketplace Ministries

The devil is the enemy of God, and while he cannot corrupt God, he will settle for you and me. Don’t let the devil win. Tony Ferguson

That which has become habitual, becomes as if it were natural. Aristotle

The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves. William Penn

The unforgivable sin is the continued rejection of the Holy Spirit! Dan Shock

I attribute my success to this—I never gave or took any excuse. Florence Nightingale

The Bible is comprised of 66 separate books written over 1500 years, by 40 different people, in three different languages, on three different continents, all telling the story of God and His only son Jesus. There have been thousands of skeptics but not one has ever disproven a single scripture of the Bible. The Bible teaches us about honesty, integrity, and the consequences of our sinful behavior. Tony Ferguson

When my horse is running well, I don’t stop to give him sugar. Douglas Horton

He is a Creator, Eternal, Infinite, loving and personal God Who loves us and wants us to come to Him with everything, and come with a thankful heart. Don’t just say you will pray about “that”. Stop, drop and pray. Rich Jensen

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation, which give happiness. Thomas Jefferson

Fear and faith are mutually exclusive. Dan Shock

Sadly, we often think Christian living requires sacrifice, when it is the one thing the soul cherishes the most. Tony Ferguson

Faith, like love, is an action verb. Faith causes us to draw near to Christ, to strive to know Him more and more, to take up our cross and follow, to become more like Him, to treat others like He would treat them. Faith ultimately causes us to want to live out what we say we believe. It causes us to want to share the good news—the Gospel of Jesus Christ—to a lost and dying world around us. Head knowledge, on the other hand, is stagnant and dead, like the demons who shudder at the mention of His name. Old Lazy Dog

The best way to predict the future is to create it. Peter Drucker

Your feedback is welcome and if you want to contribute your ideas and thoughts, address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2025

July 26, 2025

Faith Lessons from Luke 7

#1: If others with so little spiritual knowledge can have such faith (a centurion, a child, a new believer), then surely we who know the Bible and have studied it, perhaps for years, should have more faith.

In what way do we need to trust the Lord? Perhaps our prayer should be, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).

#2: Men judge one another by their merits, but God judges us by our faith.

• The Jews—he is “deserving.”
• The centurion—“I am not worthy.”
• Jesus—he has “great faith.”
• Ephesians 2:89, “Faith … not of works”

Trivia

What is the name of Israel’s famous selfdefense system?

• A. Derekh Eretz
• B. Kol Nidrei
• C. Krav Maga
• D. Tilun Olam

(Find the answer below)

On Location: The Mardigian Museum

If someone mentions a twentieth century world war, with concentration camps, death marches, mass deportations, and countless people persecuted and murdered for their faith. What comes to mind? The murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II? Absolutely! But that’s not at all that I was thinking.

From 1915 to 1917, during the heart of World War I, the Ottoman Empire pressured or brutally forced roughly one million, predominantlyChristian Armenians from their ancestral land in the eastern part of the empire. Many Armenians were robbed, raped, or forced to convert to Islam, and many more lost their lives. Death toll estimates range from 600,000 to 1.5 million in what history has now labeled “The Armenian Genocide.”

In 301 A.D. Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion, eleven years before Emperor Constantine of Rome followed suit. Armenians have maintained a continuous presence in the Holy Land since the fourth century, and when mapmakers divided Jerusalem’s Old City into four quarters in the nineteenth century, they notably designated the southwest quarter of the city as the Armenian Quarter. Although regularly overshadowed by the Christian, Muslim and Jewish quarters, which are dominated by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall, respectively, the Armenian Quarter, the smallest and quietest of the four, nevertheless harbors unique surprises of its own.

For example, a new museum has been recently renovated just off Armenian Patriarchate Street in the Old City, formally known now as the Helen and Edward Mardigian Armenian Museum of Jerusalem. When entering Jaffa Gate, bear right at the Citadel and pass the colorful ceramics shops, the Armenian Tavern and finally the Cathedral of St. James. Just before the road takes a hard left, heading toward Zion Gate, look for the museum on your left.

On display there you’ll find a replica of Gutenberg’s printing press, ancient manuscripts, modern art, photography which documents Armenia’s presence in Jerusalem, stunning Armenian mosaics, tile and pottery, and sadly a special section devoted entirely to the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Rarely visited by tourists to Jerusalem, it is a hidden gem inside the Old City walls that tells both the joyful and tragic story of Armenia’s history and culture.

Daniel McCabe

Archaeology: A Lovely Oil Lamp

Last winter, just days before Hanukkah, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a 1700 year old clay oil lamp near the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem. This unbroken lamp features exquisite artistry and only light soot marks at the wick end. Although dating to the fourth century, perhaps 250 years following the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans in 70 A.D., the carvings on the lamp depict an incense shovel from the temple, the menorah of the temple and also a lulav, the frond of a date tree, which Jewish worshippers wave during the annual celebration of Sukkot in order to remember that their forefathers once lived in tents for forty years before entering the Promised Land.

The lamp is now on public display at the newly built Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for Archaeology in Jerusalem. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Scripture Study: The Song of Moses

I enjoy reading the prayers and songs of faithful people in the Bible because we can learn a lot from them about who God is and about how God contends for His children. So, let’s look at faithful Moses who sang a song to God after the Lord brought Israel through the Red Sea while escaping from Pharaoh’s hot pursuit.

We read about this in Exodus 15:1, “Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, ‘I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and the rider He has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war. The LORD is his name.’”

We don’t often think of God as a God of war, but Moses had just experienced God’s military victory over Pharaoh, which Moses continues to describe in v. 4, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host, He cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them. They went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy in the greatness of Your majesty. You overthrow Your adversaries. You send out Your fury. It consumes them like stubble. At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up. The floods stood up in a heap. The depths congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, ‘This is Pharaoh. I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoil. My desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them.’”

But, of course, we know Pharaoh did not get to realize that intention, for Moses continues in v. 10, “You blew with Your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.”

This is really the point that Moses is getting to, and this is really what I love reading about, particularly songs of victory as well as prayers that focus on God’s greatness. Moses then says in v. 11, “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand. The earth swallowed them. You have led in Your steadfast love the people whom You have redeemed. You have guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode. The peoples have heard and they tremble. Pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed. Trembling seizes the leaders of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.”

Here Moses is focusing on the people who Israel will encounter in the Promised Land and all the enemies of Israel that God will take care of, so to speak.

In v. 16 he adds, “Terror and dread fall upon them because of the greatness of Your arm. They are still as a stone till Your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom You have purchased.”

Moses concludes by looking to a hopeful future.

“You will bring them in and plant them on Your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which You have made for Your abode, the sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever.”

So that’s just one of several examples of songs and prayers in the Bible that I think we can read to be encouraged and to learn what faithful people so long ago thought about the Lord.

–Adam Keim

Answer to Trivia question:

C. Krav Maga

Week Thirty, 2025

Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, comes out bound in grave clothes, and his face is wrapped in a cloth. Jesus instructs the people to loose him and let him go (John 11:43-44).

One of Jesus’ go-to places was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He was a distance away when He got word that Lazarus was dead. He took His time and tarried for three days to make a point. The Jewish people believed that spirits hung around a body for three days after death; after that, they were truly gone. Jesus simply walked to the grave cave and commanded the dead Lazarus to “come forth.” And Lazarus walked out.

In the Gospel of John, the narrative of Lazarus being raised from the dead after four days is a powerful example of Jesus’s authority and power over death. His command, “Lazarus, come forth!” is a direct call to life, demonstrating His mastery over mortality and foreshadowing His own resurrection. This miracle served as a ‘sign’ confirming Jesus’s divine nature and His role as the Messiah.

The command, “Lazarus, come forth!” is a direct call to life, and is seen as a powerful example of Jesus’s authority over death and His ability to bring forth new life, both physical and spiritual. The miracle of Lazarus’s resurrection is also a test for the onlookers, prompting them to choose between faith and disbelief, as some of Jesus’s critics responded with anger and further opposition.

But here is the real point of the story. Jesus did what only He could do. He brought Lazarus back to life. Then, he turned to those in the crowd and told them to do what anyone could do. He told them to remove the grave clothing.

God is like that. He does what only He can do and then asks us to do the rest, which we can do.

What is God calling you to do today?

Sometimes True Stories

Have you ever looked closely at a tall and sturdy oak tree? In order for it to weather the wind and storms, it had to grow strong roots. It takes time to grow those strong roots and godly roots are much the same. Wickedness, on the other hand, may prosper for a short time, but like a tree growing in sand, stability will never come. Grow godly roots and they will give you the stability for a godly life.

There are 65 million American adults and 6 million American children who are currently on psychiatric drugs.

The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are dressed totally inappropriately, or you are with someone you don’t want to be seen with.

As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold. (Yes, John 😊)

Quotes You Can Use

For Christians, death is the necessary means to a glorious destination. Jim Denison

The oldest, shortest words—”yes” and “no”—are those which require the most thought. Pythagoras

Health is like money. We never have a true appreciation for it until we lose it.

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones—the ones at home. Mother Teresa

Never be a prisoner of your past. It was a lesson, not a life sentence.

Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking, so as to not offend those who lack the ability to think.

I asked God, ‘Why are you taking me through these troubled waters?’ And He said, ‘Because your enemies can’t swim.

Coming soon: Biker who identifies as a cyclist wins Tour de France.

Society has become so fake that the truth actually bothers many.

There are some people who, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell ’em. Yogi Berra

Never underestimate a mother’s influence. Dan Shock

Jesus left us the third part of the Trinity that when we accept His grace, the lamp of the Lord lights up our life and the path forward begins to glow. Tony Ferguson

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. Arnold Schwarzenegger

God will never call you to do anything that He will not enable you to do. Dan Shock

Your feedback is welcome and if you want to contribute your ideas and thoughts, please address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2025

July 19, 2025

Would you have known that purple is the second favorite color of women worldwide and the third favorite color of men? If you graduated with a degree in law, dentistry or architecture you turned the page on your college days wearing a purple tassel, and if you attended LSU, Northwestern, TCU or Kansas State, your blood will always bleed purple. But if you lived in the land of Israel during Bible days, long before the modern production of synthetic colors, you probably wore only brown, black and white clothing, for these natural colors were readily available from one’s flocks and herds. Only kings, high priests and the rich wore purple. No one else could afford it, for the production of purple dye required the meticulous, time-consuming harvesting of a particular type of mollusk that lived on the Mediterranean shoreline of Israel, which secreted a purple mucous that business owners like Lydia in Acts 16:14 used to dye fibers and fleeces for a wealthy clientele. Historians have confirmed that the price of purple dye exceeded even that of gold.

Archaeologists have discovered surviving samples of clothing dyed with purple in the dry climate of the Timna Valley in Israel and now evidence of the ancient production of purple dye at a recently excavated factory at Tel Shiqmona just south of Haifa along the Carmel Coast. Although no purple material survived the humid conditions of Tel Shiqmona, archaeologists nevertheless uncovered evidence of an industrial factory at the site that dates to 1100 B.C. Finds at the factory include numerous workshops as well as fragments of purple-stained ceramic vats, stone tools, specialized vessels and large dying tanks that measure 2½ by 3 feet, roughly the size of a large bathtub, where workers once dyed robes, belts, curtains and anything that the customer requested.

Nothing on this large scale has been discovered previously, but this particular factory appears to have been in continuous use during Israel’s entire kingdom history, beginning shortly before King Saul who began his reign around 1050 B.C. until the destruction of Judah in 586 B.C. The veil of the temple that Solomon commissioned for the construction of the First Temple could very well have been produced at Tel Shiqmona (2 Chron. 2:14). Solomon aptly romanticizes his love for the Shulamite woman using the language of purple, “Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, and the hair of your head is like purple; a king is held captive by your tresses” (Song of Solomon 7:5). What a remarkable discovery!

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Trivia

According to Jewish law, when does human life begin?

(Answer to Trivia below)

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Jesus by the Lake (Luke 7:1-10), Bible Challenge

1. From whom might the centurion have learned about Jesus?

The elders, his servant, Matthew, a soldier, the nobleman from Capernaum whose son was sick and whom Jesus healed from a distance (cf. John 4:46)

2. Where did the centurion live?

Perhaps Capernaum, though unlikely since it was a Jewish fishing town

Perhaps nearby Tiberias, the new capital of the region

Perhaps north of Capernaum, near the tax-collecting border of Galilee and Perea

3. What synagogue did he build?

If the Capernaum synagogue, then we can still see the first-century foundation of it to this day

4. What’s meant by, “I also am a man placed under authority … and I say to one, ‘Go’”?

5. Notice that the Jews marvel at his kindness and generosity, calling him deserving, but Jesus marvels at his great faith and humility (“I am not worthy,” v. 7).

6. Note that a powerful Roman centurion didn’t consider himself worthy to invite a poor, Jewish rabbi and conquered subject of Rome into his home.

7. Note that he didn’t doubt that Jesus could heal his servant, “But say the word, and my servant will be healed.”

8. How might the crowd in v. 9 have taken Jesus’ comment, “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.”

Marveled too, felt ashamed at their own unbelief, confused that Jesus would praise so highly a lowly Gentile, anger that they were being disparaged

Daniel McCabe

Bible Quiz: Old or New Testament?

Where do each of these verses first originate in the Bible (NKJV)—Old Testament or New Testament?

Score yourself. One point for getting the correct testament and one point for getting the correct book. So, for example, if you knew that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” was from the Old Testament (then 1 point) and from the book of Genesis (then 1 more point for a total of 2). Therefore, your maximum score on the quiz can be 20 points. Got it? It’s not easy, but let me know how you did in the comments section below.

1. “A friend loves at all times.”

2. “Be brave, be strong.”

3. “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.”

4. “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

5. “He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

6. “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”

7. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

8. “This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.”

9. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.”

10. “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”

Answer Key:

1. Old, Prov. 17:17; 2. New, 1 Cor. 16:13; 3. New, James 5:9; 4. New, 1 Cor. 15:33; 5. Old, Deut. 31:8; 6. New, Rev. 4:8; 7. Old, 1 Sam. 16:7; 8. New, John 15:12; 9. Old, Deut. 6:5; 10. Old, Deut. 6:16.

Scripture Study: The Hall of Faith, part 5

Hebrews 11:20 continues, “By faith, Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff,” meaning that he was about ready to physically die. “By faith Joseph,” and I love this example here in v. 22, “at the end of his life made mention of the exodus of the Israelites,” which we know would happen several hundred years later, “and he gave directions concerning his bones.” He ordered the people of Israel, his descendants, “Take my bones up out of here. Don’t leave me in Egypt. When God brings us out of Egypt and brings us into the land of promise, bring my bones up with you,” and he ended up being buried in Shechem.

So those are the first twenty-two verses of the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, and I think we can appreciate at least two aspects of faith here. One, in their specific examples, all of these heroes of Scripture did trust in the promises that God gave to them that would come about in their own lives. With Noah it was the flood. With Sarah it was Isaac. With Jacob or with Abraham it was, “Go to this specific land.” And so God was working out these things in their own time and they all trusted in that. They were people who consistently trusted in God, which pleased Him. But even more so, they were people who looked forward to something that did not come about in their own lifetimes, and that is a greater reality which the author of Hebrews is reminding his own readers, charging them, and calling them to trust in Christ as the Messiah, as King, and as the Guarantor of the New Covenant who could bring about all of these things that were promised way back when to the heroes of Scripture and even to his own generation.

Adam Keim

Archaeology: The Church around the Corner

August 18, 2022

Alexander Nevsky was a 13th century, Russian, warrior-prince, known for his victories against Swedish and German invaders, so what’s his name doing on a church? In 1857 the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society purchased a small tract of land inside Jerusalem’s Old City adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. They intended to build a hostel and a consulate to serve Russian pilgrims to Jerusalem and so named the complex after Nevsky, but then prior to construction in 1883 they discovered the remains of an ancient wall and gate. In response they built their planned complex outside the city walls, known even today as the Russian Compound, and erected the Alexander Nevsky Church on the original site.

Due to the present, global, political climate the Israeli government has delayed its agreement from 2020 to transfer the site’s ownership to the Russian Federation. This past April Russian president, Vladimir Putin, demanded that Israel honor its agreement immediately, but the matter is now bogged down in the court system, so for now Putin can only fume and wait.

In any event I mentioned a wall and a gate that many believe to be a city wall from the first century and the gate through which Jesus exited the city on his way to Golgotha. Unfortunately, the gate and wall are likely from the eleventh century, but they were possibly built at the same location as an earlier triple-arched gate that was erected by Roman Emperor Hadrian in approximately 135 A.D.

There are other intriguing remains inside the church, including walls, flagstones, pavement and columns, some that also date to the time of Hadrian, including a wall that surrounded his temple complex. Most tour groups don’t visit the church around the corner. But I think it’s worth a visit if for nothing more than to view the spectacular paintings of the life of Christ high on the walls inside the chapel.

Daniel McCabe

Answer to the Trivia

C. At birth

Week Twenty-Nine, 2025

After a long flight across the ocean, in the early morning hours, we checked into our hotel and took a much-needed nap. It was our first overseas trip and when we woke up, we were ready to hit the streets in our first European country. I placed our weighty key on the hotel desk and hailed a cab, telling the driver which museum we wanted to go to. We got out and went inside.

As we strolled the corridors I suddenly had an intense thought, turned to my wife and asked if she remembered the name of the hotel where we were staying, and she said no. I had thoughts of a long stay in that museum! (PS This was our first trip overseas, and we were in our 20s. BG)

Finding someone who spoke English was no easy task, but finally I found someone who asked what it looked like. Once I told him, he gave the name of the hotel, and it clicked.

As we drove back to the hotel, I thought of what would have happened if we couldn’t find the hotel and then I thought of a spiritual parallel. We are never lost from God!

God knew us before we were born, and He has been with us ever since. He is never far away; though we may drift, He is omnipresent, and never loses track of us. God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from every one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ (Acts 17:27-28)

The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make Him. Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in Him, can’t get away from Him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

Where is God in your life?

Sometimes True Stories

Every day 158,000 people die. Nearly half have never heard of Christ.

Picture two brains: one buzzing with activity, connections firing across regions in a synchronized neural ballet. The other shows only scattered flickers of engagement—isolated islands of electrical activation.

Both belong to university students sitting in the same lecture trying to capture the same ideas. The difference between them isn’t intelligence, attention span, or interest in the subject—but the tools in their hands.

One holds a trusty pen poised over lined paper, while the other’s fingers hover over a laptop keyboard.

This neural contrast, shown in a study in Frontiers in Psychology, is just one piece of mounting evidence suggesting that our rush toward digital convenience may be coupled with significant cognitive costs. From neuroscience labs to classrooms, research comparing traditional and digital learning tools finds that pens are not quite yet old school.

Law of the Theater & Football Stadium:

At any sports event, the people whose seats are farthest from the aisle always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet, and who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies and stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

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Have you ever stared at a small body of water and imagined what it would be like to walk across? Now imagine a scenario where the body of water is next to a rock quarry, you pick up a stone and toss it in, the stone sinks, the ripples cease, but then you throw another stone, and another, and another, and another. If you keep throwing the stones eventually the stones will begin rising to the surface as you build a bridge beneath the water. Eventually you can walk across the stones.

Prayer can often seem much like the stones tossed into the water, they may seem to disappear into the Heavens with no evidence of results, but just like the stones, prayers accumulate. And when we look back we realize that God was listening all along. The bridge being built leads to eternity. The Lord hears the prayers of the righteous. Tony Ferguson

Quotes You Can Use

No one is perfect, even when one pledges his total allegiance to God, he falters. Stephen Bernard

Pray for God to send out more gospel workers, knowing that He may send you. Edgar Aponte

Be careful not to be a thief by talking too much or staying too long; that is someone’s time you are taking to. Dwight Short

We simply cannot live a Christian life without God’s help. Tony Ferguson

When you need to get your life in perspective, there’s no better place to go than into the house of God. Dan Shock

What does it mean to fear the Lord? It’s a reverential trust, a sense of respect, awe, and a submission to a higher power. We begin to be wise when we revere God and put our faith and trust in Him. Tony Ferguson

There are only two options regarding commitment: you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as life in-between. Pat Riley

There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest!

It will be a sad day for the church and the world when there is no distinction between the children of God and those of the world. Charles Spurgeon

Hell will be filled with people who don’t drink, don’t cuss and may have been baptized. Why? Because none of those things make you a Christian.

The funny thing about growing old is that your eyesight grows weaker, but your ability to see through people gets better.

Children who are not taught accountability for their actions grow up to think that nothing is wrong.

The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything. Theodore Roosevelt

If we have nothing left to give our children, they have enough if they have God. Charles Spurgeon

The mark of a successful church is not how many go there, but how many live differently as a result of having been there.

Sometimes faith will make you look stupid until it rains. Noah

We are not building God’s kingdom. He is, and we are praying to be a part of it. Francis Schaffer.

Your feedback is welcome and if you want to contribute your ideas and thoughts, please address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2025

August 16, 2022

“Throw yourself down” (Matt. 4:6), the devil challenged Jesus. If Jesus had jumped from the “pinnacle of the temple” in Jerusalem that day (v. 5), it would have created quite a scene with angels swooping in to save him in sight of all the people (v. 6). Certainly there would come a time for Jesus to present himself to the Jewish people as the Son of God. On that day there would be palm branches, a donkey and a descent from the Mount of Olives, but today was not that day.

But where exactly was Jesus standing when Satan challenged him to jump from the pinnacle and how far would the fall have been? Some believe he stood atop the temple building itself, while others have suggested either the southeast corner, or the southwest corner, of the temple complex. The fall from each of these three locations would have been approximately 150 feet. Of course we can’t know the correct location with certainty, and it doesn’t significantly change the point of the story, but I am partial to the southwest corner of the temple complex, since it would have been visible to the most people. I have other reasons, but we’ll leave it there for now.

In any event Jesus’ encounter with Satan is a great reminder that popularity and hubris are poor excuses for disobedience to God’s will. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).

–Daniel McCabe

Seven Centurions

Seven Centurions are mentioned in the New Testament. All seven are spoken of positively, while they were otherwise despised by the Jewish people.

1. Luke 7:1-10—a man of great faith who loved the land of Israel, built a synagogue for the Jews, cared for his servant, called deserving by the elders, described himself as unworthy

2. Matt. 27:54—“Truly this was the Son of God”

3. Acts 10—Cornelius, a devout man who feared God

4. Acts 22:26—intervened on behalf of Paul, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

5 & 6. Acts 23:23-24—two centurions who protected Paul from those who had vowed to kill him

7. Acts 27:42-43—sought to save Paul from the soldiers who wanted to kill him

The Centurion’s Servant

“dear to him,” 7:2— a word meaning “valuable, precious, prized, honored”

“sick,” v. 2—a word meaning “bad off, injured, harmed”

“ready to die,” v. 2—again, in a severe or critical condition

“paralyzed” in the parallel passage of Matt. 8:6—disabled, unable to walk

“dreadfully tormented,” Matt. 8:6—in agony; note its use in v. 29 where the demons fear that Jesus will “torment” them, so could this refer to demonic activity?

The Centurion

“[Jesus] marveled at him.”

Only 2X did Jesus marvel—here in Luke 7:9 and at Nazareth in Mark 6:5-6, “Now He could do no mighty work there … and He marveled because of their unbelief.”

“I have not found such great faith.”

Only 2X did Jesus commend “great faith”—here in Luke 7:9 and a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:28

In both cases they are Gentiles, not Jews, and in both cases Jesus healed from a distance.

By contrast …

The disciples—in the storm on the Sea of Galilee; “How is it that you have no faith?” Mark 4:40.

Peter—when he looked at the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee; “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matt. 14:31.

–Daniel McCabe

Trivia

The tabernacle stood for a time in all of the following locations except WHERE?

• A. Jerusalem
• B. Nob
• C. Ramah
• D. Shiloh

(Answer below)

Adam’s Prayer

After Adam and Eve tasted the forbidden fruit, we read that they sewed fig leaves together in a panic to cover their nakedness and then scoured the garden for a good hiding spot from God (Genesis 3:6). The Lord finds them cowering behind a tree and confronts them, but instead of showing remorse, they quickly turn on one another—“the woman … gave me … and I ate” and “the serpent deceived me” (vs. 12-13).

Soon they all learn their fates, including the serpent, but next we read these gracious words, “God made tunics of skin and clothed [Adam and Eve]” (v. 21). It was my Old Testament professor in college, Dr. Kenneth McKinley, who first pointed out to me that this verse presents two key biblical themes of faith and blood—faith in that the fallen couple accepted God’s covering as a replacement for their manmade one and blood in that the death of an innocent one (a lamb perhaps) was required to restore the guilty.

But somewhere between Adam and Eve’s decision to hide from the presence of God and their decision to accept a new set of clothes from him, something changed in their hearts. We don’t read any words of repentance in Genesis nor any prayer for forgiveness, but in his classic work, Paradise Lost, John Milton imagines these words of advice from Adam to Eve in order to help explain the change:

“What better can we do than to the place
Repairing, where He judged us, prostrate fall
Before Him reverent; and there confess
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg; with tears

Some Jewish rabbis have similarly proposed that Adam prayed in the garden for forgiveness; that both Adam and Eve ritually cleansed themselves in one of the garden’s rivers as an act of repentance; and that many years later Adam penned Psalm 92 as a prayer of repentance. We can’t know with any certainty what or even if Adam prayed in the garden, but how do you think you would have felt if you were on the receiving end of God’s animal-skin covering that day? If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin, then it turns out that you know exactly how they felt. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

–Daniel McCabe

Hezekiah’s Pool

When we read in the opening verses of Isaiah 36 that a high-ranking envoy from the king of Assyria has arrived at Jerusalem with a considerable military force and that he stood “by the aqueduct from the upper pool” (v. 2) from where he taunted King Hezekiah and all the people barricaded inside the city about their impending destruction, don’t think for a second about a sun-splashed swimming pool with diving boards and lifeguard stands. Instead think of a reservoir filled with water. Or better yet, think of a trash dump, for before 2010 when Jerusalem’s city leaders finally decided to clean it up, Hezekiah’s Pool (as it had come to be known) was just that.

There aren’t any signs inside the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem that direct pilgrims to the pool, for there’s not really anything there to see except for a large, dry, open area, 140 by 240 feet in size, surrounded on all sides by buildings and workshops. There’s no evidence that Jesus ever removed his sandals and dipped his feet into this pool (that by then had been refurbished by King Herod) or that Paul or one of the Twelve performed a miracle there, so that’s enough reason for most to yawn at their guide’s urging to climb to the rooftop of the Petra Hotel or the northeast tower of the Citadel just inside Jaffa Gate for an aerial view. Some historians believe that before its use as a pool the site served as a quarry whose stones were used to build part of an ancient city wall and that it might be holding secrets below its recently-cleared surface that archaeologists have yet to uncover.

If you’ve hung on this long to my description of this pool, which has also served in times past as a conventional caravanserai, then you might find it interesting to learn its alternative name, the Pool of the Patriarch’s Bath, for in the Middle Ages this pool supplied bath water for the palace of a Crusader patriarch. Still reading? Then consider encouraging me with a like, love or wow that might say more than that you made it to the end of this post, but that you might even want to knock on the front door of the Coptic Khan with me next time we’re in Jerusalem to see if they will let us walk through their building and out the back door to take a peek at the pool or perhaps to even attend (though rare) a concert together or some other scheduled event on the floor of the pool.

–Daniel McCabe

The Hall of Faith, part 4

In Hebrews 11:13 we read that Abel, Noah and Abraham “all died in faith, not having received the things promised.” That’s interesting because Noah did see the flood come about and Sarah saw Isaac being born, but they didn’t receive the fulfillment of these promises in a greater way. “But having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” Now none of these people mentioned so far had seen that homeland. They were still strangers in the land even though they received specific promises in the context of the flood and Isaac, for example. In a greater way, however, they were looking forward to the same thing that the writer of Hebrews wants to impress upon his readers—that they can look forward to a homeland that they had not yet received. It’s the faithful who live their whole earthly lives looking forward to that thing that they don’t see and who are seeking a homeland now.

Verse 15 says that “if they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one,” one that would be sourced from heaven. We know this to be the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God that Jesus talked about. He told Pilate, for example, “My Kingdom is not from this world.” It’s not sourced in this world, and v. 16 finishes by saying, “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city,” a city that none of them got to enjoy, but one that they would enjoy at a future time. In this way the readers of Hebrews could claim to have the same faith as Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah and the rest of the people whom the writer’s going to talk about in chapter 11.

The writer now gets back to the specific people. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named?’” So why would Abraham offer up Isaac even though he knew that Isaac was required for those promises to come about? Well, though the content of Genesis doesn’t give us this specific information, v. 19 here does, “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” Isaac was as good as dead because Abraham was ready to sacrifice him in obedience, but he trusted that God somehow would still work out his promises even if it meant bringing Isaac back from the dead.

–Adam Keim

Answer to the Trivia

C. Ramah

Week Twenty-Eight, 2025

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).

Several years ago, there was a commercial for Motel 6, and the catchphrase was ‘We’ll leave the light on for ya,’ an ad-lib by Tom Bodett, a National Public Radio personality. It was a catchy phrase that resonated for years after the ad first aired.

Regardless of your station in life, the Lord’s light of forgiveness is always on for those who accept the Lord’s gift of Grace. At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

In our lives, there will be good days and bad days, light days and dark days, and days when we feel God is far away and missing. But, be assured, He is always there. Sometimes, He throws the bad and dark days and experiences to get our attention or to divert us from moving in the wrong direction. I can point out those experiences in my life, though I didn’t realize it until long after the fact.

The prophet Isaiah saw the light, saying: ‘Arise, shine, for your light has dawned, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you’ (60:1). This assures that there is light after the dawn, the light of the Lord. Light is what makes the birds sing while the coming dawn is still dark.

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18. Admittedly, it is tough to hang in there when God feels so far away, but as surely as the sun rises in the East, you will feel His presence in your life. He doesn’t drift away, but sometimes you and I do. Often, He says, ‘Wait,’ something most of us don’t do very well.

The best way to flip on the switch of light in your life is to grab your Bible and see what it says. It is full of light that is always on for us.

Have you flipped that switch lately?

Sometimes True Stories

When people are reading a job posting on any one of the hundreds of job sites, one of the headings is always ‘Job Requirements.’ And in this section they delineate all the necessary skills to be able to fulfill the Job Description or be a successful candidate for the position.

It may be certain education levels, a certain number of work experience years, or certain proficiencies and skill levels that are necessary to be considered for the job.

As we read a passage in Micah 6:8, we see three such requirements from the Lord:

1. to act justly

2. to love mercy

3. to walk humbly with your God.

And preceding these requirements, we are reminded that He has already shown us what is good. We already know, He’s already shown us.

For us to do and be what He has called us to do and be, it begins with repenting of our sin and making Jesus the Lord and Savior of our lives. Soon followed by the “Job Requirements” mentioned here:

1. to act justly

2. to love mercy

3. to walk humbly with your God.

Just like Jesus… Marty Stubblefield

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Bible sales are booming in the UK, part of what one commentator calls a “broader cultural change pointing to an awakening in society.” Bible sales are up 22 percent in the US as well.

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In 2019, the federal budget was $4.4 trillion.

The federal deficit that year was $984 billion.

Interest payments on the national debt totaled $375 billion.

In 2024, the federal budget was $6.8 trillion.

The federal deficit that year was $1.8 trillion.

Interest on the national debt was $881 billion.

Between 2019 and 2024:

The federal budget ballooned by 55%.

The annual deficit skyrocketed by 83%.

Interest payments on the national debt exploded by 135%

Quotes You Can Use

You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them. Desmond Tutu

When you try to prove to someone that a machine won’t work, it will.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who created us to be born again…..to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…… (I Peter 1:3-4).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who created us to be born again… to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. (I Peter 1:3-4).

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.

Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error. Marcus Cicero

The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion. Paulo Coelho

The best fighter is never angry. Lao Tzu

God uses such seemingly insignificant ways to prepare us for the plan He has for our lives. Corrie Ten Boom

If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone. William Shakespeare.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. Marcus Aurelius

You can’t preach equality while demanding special treatment.

You can see a potter mold clay only when it is completely in his hands. It requires total surrender. Corrie Ten Boom

Some people don’t see how much you do for them. They only see what you don’t do for them. You will never satisfy an ungrateful person.

Children that aren’t taught accountability for their actions grow up thinking that nothing is wrong.

The people who criticize your life are the ones who don’t know or understand what you did to get where you are.

Your circumstances don’t determine your joy.

It takes two years for a baby to learn to speak and a lifetime to know when to shut up. Ernest Hemingway.

Your feedback is welcome and if you want to contribute your ideas and thoughts, address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2025

“The country also that lies over against this lake [the Sea of Galilee] hath the same name of Gennesareth; its nature is wonderful as well as its beauty; its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees there; for the temper of the air is so well mixed, that it agrees very well with those several sorts, particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air, flourish there in vast plenty; there are palm trees also, which grow best in hot air; fig trees also and olives grown near them, which yet require an air that is more temperate.

One may call this place the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together; it is a happy contention of the seasons as if every one of them laid claim to this country; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruit beyond men’s expectation, but preserves them a great while; it supplies men with the principal fruits, with grapes and figs continually during ten months of the year, and the rest of the fruit as they become ripe together, through the whole year; for besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain.

The people of the country call it Capharnaum. Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the Coracin fish as well as that lake does which is near to Alexandria. The length of this country extends itself along the banks of this lake that bears the same name, for thirty furlongs, and is in breadth twenty; and this is the nature of that place.” (From Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 3.516-521).

–Daniel McCabe

History: A Bible Quiz on the Roman Emperors

1. How many Roman emperors are specifically mentioned by name in the Bible?

2. What are their names?

3. What Roman emperor is associated with each of the following seven biblical stories?

a. Ordered the taxation of the empire that required Joseph and Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem where Jesus would then be born

b. Reigned at the beginning of John the Baptizer’s ministry and subsequently during the ministry years and death of Jesus

c. Reigned during a great famine in the empire, mentioned in Acts

d. Commanded all Jews to leave Rome, also mentioned in Acts

e. Persecuted Christians mercilessly and executed Peter and Paul by crucifixion and beheading, respectively

f. Before becoming emperor, commanded the Roman force that destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24:1-2

g. Ordered the exile of the Apostle John to the island of Patmos

The answers:

1. Three

2. Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius

3a. Augustus, Luke 2:1, the birth of Jesus probably dates to the winter of 5-4 B.C.

3b. Tiberius, Luke 3:1, the start of Jesus’ ministry probably dates to 30 A.D.

3c. Claudius, Acts 11:28, approximately 47 A.D.

3d. Claudius, Acts 18:2, approximately 50 A.D.

3e. Nero, not mentioned directly by name in the Bible, but Peter and Paul’s martyrdoms probably date to 68 A.D.

3f. Titus, the destruction of the temple took place in 70 A.D.

3g. Domitian, John is exiled approximately 95 A.D. (cf. Rev. 1:9).

How did you do?

Daniel McCabe

On Location: The Grave of Oskar Schindler

I always set aside the last day of my tours to Israel for exploring places of interest to me. I call it Daniel’s Day. If group members want to stay back in their rooms to pack and rest or if they want to venture out on their own to do some last minute shopping or try a restaurant that they’ve been eyeing, then that’s great. But if they want to go with me, then that’s great too.

It was the last day of our May 2017 trip to Israel with folks from two different churches in Texas, and I wanted to find the grave of Oskar Schindler. “Does anyone want to come with me?” They all did!

Perhaps you recognize his name from Steven Spielberg’s 1993 award-winning movie, Schindler’s List, which won no less than seven Academy awards, including best picture. Although I haven’t personally watched the movie, over thirty million watched it in theaters and sixty-five million more for its NBC television debut on February 23, 1997. It tells the story of a German industrialist who employed more than one thousand, mostly-Polish Jews in his factories during World War 2, saving them from almost certain death by the Nazis.

Just outside the Zion gate of the Old City of Jerusalem our group located a massive Roman Catholic cemetery built into the northern hill of the Hinnom Valley. I’d read an online description of where to find Schindler’s gravestone, and so our group fanned out until a cry rang out, “Here it is!” Covered with rocks, a Middle Eastern expression of honor (much like we place flowers on a tombstone), its Hebrew and German inscriptions read, respectively, “Righteous among the Nations” and “The Unforgettable Lifesaver of 1200 Persecuted Jews.” Schindler risked his life to save others, prompting our group to reflect upon the freedoms we enjoyed back home in Texas and the tremendous blessing we have still this day in knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior. Some of our group members even went looking for rocks.

Daniel McCabe

Week Twenty-Seven, 2025

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Yesterday, we celebrated the Fourth of July, the 249th time in our history. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, officially declaring the 13 American colonies independent from Great Britain. While the vote for independence was actually taken two days earlier, on July 2nd, the 4th became the day celebrated as the birth of American independence.

More than just traditional celebrations, the Fourth of July commemorates the signing of a document that declares a relationship with an almighty God. By the time of the Declaration, America was almost two hundred years old, dating back to the immigration of the Pilgrims in 1620, when the Mayflower reached shore with 102 passengers. Only 57 of them made it to the first Thanksgiving in 1621. By the signing, that small band had increased to 2.5 million in population. God had provided, as He still does today.

By all odds, they were all doomed, but there was another passenger in their flock, an almighty God, who guided and protected them every step of the way to and after the declaration.

In his book The American Miracle, Michael Medved speaks of the divine providence in the rise of the republic. He notes that crucial moments in American history have turned on providential events that defy rational explanation. The history of the United States displays an uncanny pattern. At moments of crisis, when the odds against success seem overwhelming and disaster looks overwhelming, fate intervenes to provide deliverance and progress.

Most certainly, we are one nation under God. Through war and peace, He has been evident. In the words of Ronald Reagan, “When America ceases to be one nation under God, we will be one nation gone under.”

Not only on the fourth of July, but on every day may we always feel our national closeness to Almighty God and continue to worship and thank Him for all He has done to make this nation great.

Sometimes True Stories

Ideas have consequences. When we lose sight of who we are, the effects ripple through every part of life. We see it in the headlines. We see it in our communities. And for many, we see it in our own families. A culture that tells us identity is something we create, rather than something we receive, will always leave people searching. But when we understand that we are made in the image of God, everything changes. Identity is no longer uncertain. It’s not something we have to earn, define, or reinvent. It’s a gift—one that brings peace, security, and purpose.

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Differeing Perspectives:

• Grandpa: “Church is essential”.
• Dad: “Church is optional”.
• Son: “Church is unnecessary”.
• Grandson: “Jesus who”.

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The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

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More than 40% of people around the world have little or no access to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That means entire communities, literally billioons of people, are living without the hope, healing, and redemption that only He can bring.

Quotes You Can Use

God’s will is tomorrow’s unknown factor. Dan Shock

The art of music, above all the other arts, is the expression of the soul of a nation. Ralph Vaughan Williams

Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin

We are called to sow seed in unlikely places—and leave the results to God. We’re not called to judge the condition of the soil. Dan Shock

Only the life lived in Jesus has eternal, lasting benefit. Dan Shock

Wealth is not evil and can even be a good thing when managed with godly intent. The hold point is honesty, integrity, and godly behavior. Tony Ferguson

I have no desire to be God, but I do want to be like God. Dan Shock

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it, so it goes on flying anyway. Mary Kay Ash

The best time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. Mark Twain

We put our faith in God above, we put our faith in the grace of God and we try our best to do His will. J. D. Vance

To say that we are sorry for our sins is mere hypocrisy, unless we show that we are really sorry for them by giving them up. J. C. Ryle

The biggest joke on mankind is that computers have started asking humans to prove that they aren’t robots.

It is better to have cheap under budget items than to have luxury and be in debt.

Man’s laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral. Even if a sin is legalized it’s still a sin in the eyes of God.

I don’t care who mocks me. I’ll say it boldly: I’d rather stand with God and be rejected by the world than to stand with the world and be rejected by God.

The name of Jesus Christ is hell’s terror, heaven’s delight, and earth’s hope. Charles Spurgeon

You don’t know who you are until you know God and you don’t know how to live until you have settled the question of how to die. Alistair Begg

Don’t worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything.

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Your feedback is welcome and if you want to contribute your ideas and thoughts, address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2025

June 28, 2025

Location, location, location! Some love the mountains while others love the beach, but in general it’s much more expensive to build or purchase a home near the water. In Bible days, however, you needed a nearby water source in order to survive.

The ancient city of Dan in northern Israel depended on the runoff from snow-capped Mount Hermon which towered overhead. The desert city of Beersheba in the south survived on well water, and the city of Jerusalem (though known previously as both Salem and Jebus) sprang up on a well-defended hilltop just to the west of a deep valley, the Kidron Valley, where the Gihon Spring provided an unending flow of cool drinking water for the people and their crops.

A British officer, engineer and archaeologist named Charles Warren took a particular interest in exploring Jerusalem in 1887, and he unexpectedly unearthed a labyrinth of tunnels and shafts that help to explain the manner in which the city’s early inhabitants (even before the time of King David) accessed the Gihon Spring in the valley below and how they brought its water inside the walls of the city.

The term, Warren’s Shaft, has come to mean both the complete water system that Warren discovered in the City of David as well as the particular 45-foot natural shaft up which he climbed that opened up into a nearly 4000-yeard old tunnel system created most likely by the Canaanites whom David would later defeat before making Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom.

2 Samuel 5:8 records David’s conquest of the city and a specific challenge that the king made to his men, “Whoever climbs up by way of the water shaft and defeats the Jebusites … he shall be chief and captain.” 1 Chronicles 11:6 reports that Joab “went up first and became chief.”

Could the shaft discovered by Warren be the one mentioned in the Bible? Perhaps, but there is no consensus among archaeologists and Bible teachers. In any event the shaft Captain Warren discovered is still visible today inside a massive tunnel system below the City of David, and it’s hard to imagine the bravery and strength it would have required to climb up this shaft in the dark without modern lighting and safety equipment.

–Daniel McCabe

Trivia

What street, only a 10-minute walk from the Old City of Jerusalem, is named for a British novelist whose last novel championed the hope of a Jewish state?

A. Charles Dickens St.

B. George Eliot St.

C. Thomas Hardy St.

D. Henry James St.

(Answer to the Trivia quesiton below)

Life in the Land: Thrice Daily Prayer

Observant Jewish men pray three times a day, every day, morning, afternoon and evening. The rabbis teach that this pattern emulates the prayer life of the patriarchs, for Abraham “went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD” to witness the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:27); Isaac “went out to meditate in the field in the evening [at sunset]” when he noticed the long-awaited approach of Rebekah, his future bride (Gen. 24:63); and Jacob prayed to God for deliverance from Esau before wrestling “that night” with a Man “until the breaking of day” (Gen. 32:9-11, 22-24).

The rabbis also teach that thrice daily prayer corresponds to the three daily sacrifices offered by the priests in the temple, but although there were only two daily sacrifices as noted in Exodus 29:39 (“one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight”), the rabbis consider the overnight work in the temple as a natural connection to evening prayer.

For me, however, a better impetus to pray three times per day can be found in the lives of King David and the prophet Daniel. Samuel calls David a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and Daniel is affirmed as uncompromising, righteous and wise (Daniel 1:8; Ezekiel 14:14; 28:3), so when we read in Psalm 55:18 that David vowed to pray “evening and morning and at noon” and that Daniel “knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as was his custom since early days,” there can be no better examples to emulate.

–Daniel McCabe

Scripture Study: The Hall of Faith, part 2

“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain through which he was commended as righteous, for God commended him by accepting his gifts. Through his faith, though he died, Abel still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

So just how was Abel exercising faith? Well, by offering an acceptable sacrifice which Cain did not offer, and I’m convinced that the acceptability of Abel’s sacrifice was its blood. Abel offered a bloody sacrifice. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.” Even before the sacrificial system and the Law, I think God communicated this to humanity, demanding the shedding of blood to atone for sin. I think that God probably communicated this in some way to Adam and Eve as well as to Cain and Abel. Thus, Abel by faith looked forward to the forgiveness of his sin based on blood at least to some degree, and so he brought a bloody sacrifice in contrast to Cain.

I think this explains why Abel offered animals and Cain offered vegetables, the produce of the ground. In this way Abel exercised his faith, looking forward to some specific solution that God would provide. Of course, we know this now to be Jesus on the cross, but Abel was simply exercising faith. “God, I trust that what you are having me do is good and right,” and so I think that Abel did understand in some way that forgiveness of sin would be attached to his offering. God accepted his offering and commended Abel for his faith.

Also, by faith, “Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because God had taken him” (v. 5). If we read through the account in Genesis 5:22-24, we don’t glean a lot of information about Enoch. We only know that he was this guy who walked with God and then God took him. Enoch was commended for having pleased God. Enoch was somebody who lived a life of faith and somehow looked forward, so God rewarded him by bringing him straight to glory. What a wonderful experience for Enoch, but he too displayed a faith that looked forward, for as we see from v. 6, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

I think this is a general truth that we can all cling to and really appreciate in the midst of the many examples in this chapter. We cannot please God without faith because we cannot please God by any amount of good works we might try to do. We know that as Christians it requires faith to please him.

–Adam Keim

History and Geography Series: Ten of My Favorite Places

#5, Caesarea Maritima

August 13, 2022

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God” (Acts 10:1-2).

Caesarea Maritima was a Roman city of immense importance, and its significance in history spans over a millennium. The city’s wonders are too many to describe in detail. Without exaggeration, an entire Shalom Y’all series cannot do it justice.

Herod the Great’s architectural fingerprints are found all over Israel, and Caesarea Maritima is no exception. Search the internet for artists’ renderings of how the ancient city looked. You will be impressed by the harbor. If underwater stone and concrete construction sounds challenging today, think about doing it in Herod’s day.

A visit will take you through an amphitheater, a hippodrome, a Roman city, a collection of ancient carvings and statues, several mosaic tile floors, Herod’s palace, a famous engraving of Pontius Pilate’s name, a Crusader era fortress, a largely intact aqueduct (nearby), and some modern shopping—including delicious gelato!

Caesarea Maritima is of special biblical interest. God directed Peter there to minister to Cornelius (Acts 10:1-11:18). The realization that the Gospel is for the Gentiles, too, was a major turning point in the church’s beginning. Also, Herod Agrippa died in the city (either at the theater or the hippodrome; arguments exist for both locations) upon robbing God’s glory (Acts 12:20-24).

Paul was likely imprisoned at the palace for two years under Felix and Festus (Acts 24-26). Some surmise that Paul may have written some of the “prison epistles” (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) from there, but Rome is the better candidate for their provenance. However, he could have drawn his sports metaphors from the hippodrome next to the palace.

I have many memories of Caesarea Maritima, and it is one of the first places that I think about fondly when planning a return to Israel. One day I will even play the only 18-hole golf course in the country, right next door.

–Adam Keim

Answer to the Trivia

B. George Eliot Street

(She wrote the impactful novel, Daniel Deronda.)