Grace: Boasting Excluded

I'm sure that when they heard Jesus' parable about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying the disciples and the Pharisees would have been flabbergasted! The prayer Jesus suggested for the Pharisee was pretty much what any pious Jew would have expected. How could he not be justified? And how could a wretch like that Tax Collector be justified just because he repented and called on God?

The Lesson of The Persistent Widow

We know that we are supposed to pray to God for his help in all kinds of trouble. But often the trouble lasts longer than our endurance in prayer. Jesus wanted to teach his disciples to pray without losing heart. He did it by telling a story about a powerless widow facing off against a powerful but corrupt judge. Her situation was the opposite of ours in bringing requests to God - but she did not lose heart.

The View From Hell

What if we could look into hell and see what it is really like there? Would it change our attitudes and our priorities in life? Jesus seemed to think that it should, because he told us about one man who found himself there.

Lessons on Stewardship

Jesus told the story of the dishonest manager to teach his disciples about their responsibility to be good stewards of God's blessings. When we face God in heaven we all want to hear, "Well done." But how do we know if we are doing well or not?