“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)   I’ve heard this blessing, called “Aaron’s Blessing” or “The High Priestly Blessing,” at the end of every Sunday service for years, and have struggled to understand what it means. It seemed so repetitive. Only some of the parts spoke to me. I understood, generally, “keep,” “grace,” and “peace.” The rest? Not so...

“Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27)   It’s confession time.   Quite apropos, seeing as we’ve just entered a new year.   My confession is this. Even though I’ve read through the Bible, attended worship services and my local church’s Men’s group, and kept current with High Beam Ministry’s daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly responsibilities, I’ve fallen short of God’s call...

“Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?’ (Jewish leaders): ‘We aren’t stoning you for a good work,’ the Jews answered, ‘but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.’”  (John 10:32-33)   “ (Jesus said,)  ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ The (Jewish leaders)  replied, ‘You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, before...