Jesus is concerned to give assurance to those of us who would read the Gospel of John in the 21st century.

For example, he prays for us in John 17:20, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” In other words, Jesus foresaw that after his departure everyone who would become a Christian would do so not by seeing his physical body but through “the word” of the eyewitnesses. This is possible because an eyewitness like John wrote the Gospel of John.

Another example is the way Jesus responded to Thomas who needed to see Jesus’ wounds in order to believe he was really raised from the dead...

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I thank God today for the service and the sacrifice of 24.5 million veterans in America.

Today is Veteran’s Day. Formerly it was Armistice Day because on November 11, 1918 in a railway carriage in Compiengne Forest in France the Armistice with Germany was signed that ended World War I where 116,516 American soldiers died.

There are 9.5 million veterans older than 65. 2.3 million are black. 1.1 million are Hispanic. 276,000 are Asian.

When soldiers came to John the Baptist and asked, “What shall we do”—meaning, “How shall we respond to your call to repent?”, John answered, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages” (L…

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It was a backwater German town called Eisleben on November 10, 1483—today marks 525 years.

There Martin Luther had his inauspicious beginning. He was born a poor boy, son of a coal miner. And by a strange providence, Luther died in the same town 62 years later on February 18, 1546, even though he spent barely any of his life there.

In the intervening 6 decades, the world changed—and Luther, under God, was the chief catalyst.

The pope excommunicated Luther in January of 1521, making him a marked man. For the last 25 years of his life, he lived with the awareness that each day could be his last. He often expressed surprise that he was still alive.

To the right is a 1526 painti…

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Annie Lou Henry
May 23, 1898 – November 9, 1980

Twenty-eight years ago today—five months after we began at Bethlehem—my father’s mother died down in Georgia. For a couple of years she had been having small strokes that kept her more and more confined to her home and then her bed.

During one visit, I sat with her and learned a lesson that helped prepare me for ministry and my own life.

This woman was my grandmother, who had always been part of my life. Though college-educated, she had survived the depression by scratching a living from the Georgia red clay, alongside her husband and children. She outlived her husband (Walter Raleigh Henry, Sr.) by 30 years. She buried one …

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C. S. Lewis:

Did you ever meet, or hear of, anyone who was converted from skepticism to a "liberal" or "demythologized" Christianity? I think that when unbelievers come in at all, they come in a good deal further. (Letters To Malcolm, 119)

One of the great fears of my life as a boy growing up in Greenville, South Carolina is that Billy Graham would die. Today he is 90 years old. Thank you, Lord, that you answered my boyish prayers. Happy birthday, Billy. Here’s to your life!

Billy Graham was born on November 7, 1918 in North Carolina. In 1934, under the preaching of evangelist Mordecai Ham, Billy was converted to Christ. Which means that Mordecai Ham is one of the most influential preachers of the 20th century.

Billy attended Bob Jones University in Cleveland, Tennessee for one year and spent three and a half years at Florida Bible Institute in Tampa. In March of 1938 he was called to preach:

One night in…

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Last month, Wayne Grudem taught on 1 Peter 3:1—“Wives, be subject to your husbands.” You can watch or download the video.

Today is the 87th birthday of my mother, Pamela Henry.

A couple of years ago, our Bethlehem M.O.M.S asked me to tell them what I learned by being my mother’s daughter. Only God knows all I’ve learned and am still learning from her.

Here’s a recent example. Mother broke her hip in May and hip replacement was the best way to help her toward healing. Within days of the surgery, I was hearing from my siblings that Mother was always one step ahead of what the doctors, nurses, and therapists were going to be asking of her. The day before she was going to be helped and trained to get out of bed and dress herself, she struggled triumphantly through the process herself.

She told m…

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How does the Bible instruct us to pray for “all who are in high positions”? It says,

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:1-4).

A few observations:

1. Giving thanks “for kings” is hard when they are evil.

And, as Calvin said on this passage, “All the magistrates of that time were sworn enemies of Christ.” This shows us that anarchy is…

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Father in heaven, as we approach this election on Tuesday, I pray

1) that your people will vote,

2) and that they will vote with a sense of thankfulness for a democratic system that at least partially holds in check the folly and evil in all our hearts so that power which corrupts so readily is not given to one group or person too easily;

3) that we would know and live the meaning of

• being in the world, but not of it,
• doing politics as though not doing them,
• being on the earth, yet having our lives hidden with Christ in God,
• rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s;

4) that we would discern what truths and values s…

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