Articles by Dr. David Jeremiah
When the whole human race was terrified by sin, death, judgment, and hell, Jesus left the heights of the heavens to journey to earth for the likes of you and me. In John’s Gospel, the phrase Jesus used for this journey was to “come down.” He said, “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man…. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me… I am the bread which came down from heaven…. I have come down from heaven….” (John 3:13; 6:38, 41, 42, emphasis mine). This is the greatest mystery of all time, that God is a Trinity, and that the Second Person of the Trinity should “beam” himself to earth on a sacrificial journey from heaven to earth. He was transported through the womb of a virgin as the sinless Redeemer, completely God and a complete man, for the redemption of the world.
Henry Dunant grew up a well-to-do Swiss Calvinist home, where he watched his parents do one good deed after another, driven by Christian empathy for the needy. His father labored tirelessly to assist orphans and ex-prisoners, and his mother had a burden for the sick and poor. This was a time of spiritual revival in Switzerland, and Henry grew up feeling compelled to do all he could to serve Christ. As a teenager, he helped organize young men in regular Bible studies and in projects for the poor. He helped found a chapter of the YMCA in Geneva. In college, Dunant was so preoccupied with his mercy ministries that he neglected to study. At age 21, he was forced out of school by poor grades. He found a job, worked hard, established his own business, and prospered.
More than five centuries ago, Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, revolutionized the way books were made by creating a system of movable type: Load tiny metal letters into a tray, ink the type, and press the tray of letters down onto a sheet of paper. For five hundred years, books changed very little: pages sandwiched between front and back covers. That was until electronic (digital) books became available. Not only would Gutenberg be dumbstruck at the sight of modern printing presses, he would be even more shocked at how books are distributed digitally. Today books and magazines are easy to store and access. You can take hundreds of books with you, stored in your digital reading device, and read them anytime, anywhere.
Have you ever tasted something that has obviously been watered down? Even the finest coffee or tea loses some of its flavor when it is diluted with too much water. A watered down message can lose its potency as well. In the world today, there is an attempt by some to water down the Word of God in an attempt to make it more palatable to the changing morals and attitudes of our culture. But the Bible doesn’t conform its message to public opinion polls. It doesn’t change its doctrines in response to societal consensus. It should never be watered down. God’s Word is eternal—ever old, ever new, and ever sure. The Bible is as venerable as, “Thus says the Lord,” and as contemporary as, “The Last Days.” It spans the ages, being ageless. We can count on it in every condition: in sickness, in health, in poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth.[1]In a world of lies, His Word is truth. In a world of opinions, His Word is accurate down to the last jot and tittle. Because God is eternal, His Word is established in the heavens. Because He cannot fail, His Word cannot be broken. Because He is unchanging, His Word is certain. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the Scripture will endure forever. [1] George Keith, “How Firm a Foundation,” An American Church Hymnal (Nashville: John T. Benson Publishing Company, 1937).
Wouldn’t you love to live in a Norman Rockwell painting or on a Currier and Ives card in December? Christmas is when we want to roast chestnuts on an open fire, deck the halls with boughs of holly, ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hang our stockings by the chimney with care, and have ourselves a merry little Christmas. Year after year we try to create a perfect picture-postcard experience during the holidays, but the effort seems counterproductive. Instead of the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas can be the most stressful time of the year—a whirlwind of traveling, shopping, spending, entertaining, and even churching. It’s hard to have joy in a whirl. According to the American Psychological Association, seven out of ten people feel stress from not having enough time for their Christmas activities, and the same number worry about having enough money. Not surprisingly, most of the stress falls on women. Far more women than men worry about having enough money for gift-giving, and women are more likely to take on added workloads by running to purchase last-minute gifts and working overtime in the kitchen to feed all the guests. So how can you bring joy to the whirl?
On February 26, 1829, a Jewish boy named Loeb Strauss was born in a cottage in the Bavarian village of Buttenheim. As a young man, Loeb changed his name to Levi and wound up in California, where he opened a textile company. One day, a gold miner walked into Levi’s shop. “Look at these,” said the miner, pointing to his pants. “I bought them six months ago, and now they are full of holes!” When Levi asked why, the miner explained, “We work on our knees most of the time.” “What you need is some really strong material,” replied Levi. A tailor was called—and the rest is history. Soon miners across the West were wearing Levi Strauss’s jeans. It seems to me that we Christians should have the same problem that plagued that miner—worn-out pants—for we ought to do most of our work on our knees.