KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Click here to subscribe
and get KneEmail in your inbox each weekday.
Peace
SOON AFTER THE Vietnam War ended, the American Art Institute opened a contest asking people to send their artistic rendition of the meaning of peace... The institute received hundreds of paintings, most of them the kinds of things that... (continue reading Peace)
Honesty
PICTURE WHAT THE world would be like if no one had hidden agendas -- everything out on the table, no gossip or talking behind people's backs... Imagine how freeing it would be to live like Jesus, not ruled by... (continue reading Honesty)
Fragrance
BE A FRAGRANT aroma... Perfume short-circuits the intellect and captures the heart. Influence nonbelievers like perfume influences you! We're talking about something aesthetically pleasing. The "redemptive neighbor" is winsome. He has a distinctive, attractive fragrance which stands out from the... (continue reading Fragrance)
Meekness
WHEN CHRISTIANS SWITCH from talking about football to talking about Christ, they often kick into a "religious twang" or a "stained-glass voice..." It doesn't help. Sometimes they flip their argument switch when the subject touches religion, as though evangelism... (continue reading Meekness)
Focus
THE BEDOUIN TRIBES who live in the desert have a story they tell their children that can teach us a great deal about how we make decisions... According to the story, there was once a man living in the... (continue reading Focus)
Miss
...WHAT IF YOUR job were to find a gun...? Or a tumor? Both baggage screeners at airports and radiologists at hospitals spend the bulk of their time looking for things they rarely see. In the case of radiologists, routine... (continue reading Miss )
Dress
WHAT DOES THE Bible say about proper dress for the Christian...? We are to put on the garment of love. Colossians 3:14; cf. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 We are to put on the garment of compassion and kindness. Luke 10:33-35;... (continue reading Dress)
Transition
MOST WOMEN WHO have given birth know that the worst part of labor is what is referred to as "transition"... This is the point in the delivery process where women feel the most excruciating pain they've ever experienced in their... (continue reading Transition)
Purpose
ON THANKSGIVING, ELEANOR Roosevelt was serving food at a local soup kitchen... More street people showed up than anticipated. They were running out of food and worried that not everyone would get to eat. As Eleanor was delivering two... (continue reading Purpose)
Preserve
A TEACHER HAD twelve students in his class... He brought into the room a box of thirteen roses. Taking one of them out of the box, he passed it around the class asking each student to handle and smell... (continue reading Preserve)
Love
I HAVE BEEN to youth rallies, gospel meetings, seminars, lectureships, and so many other church venues, when the topic of evangelism has been discussed... I have spent hours listening and reading articles from gospel preachers about how we can... (continue reading Love)
Vision
ABOUT 350 YEARS ago a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America... The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to... (continue reading Vision)
Sowing
THIS SOWER HAD really bad aim... If this guy had been working for me, I would have fired him. He couldn't get the seeds where they belonged. He was throwing the seeds everywhere, and seemed to be wasting them.... (continue reading Sowing)
Faith
WERE IT NOT for faith, or as Paul mentioned the law of faith (Romans 3:27), salvation could not be by grace because faith allows entrance into God's saving grace... The two then, grace and faith, are inseparable qualities. Works... (continue reading Faith)
Contrast
IF I OFFERED you a method for making a million dollars, and it was s certain process, would you listen...? What if I offered you the ability to live your life in a wise, godly manner? Would you listen?... (continue reading Contrast)
Intrusion
WHEN I THINK of Zacchaeus, I see Danny DeVito--someone short, crooked, and a little flamboyant... As an employee of the Roman government who made himself rich by skimming the tax money, Zacchaeus was ostracized from Jewish society. He's scum.... (continue reading Intrusion)
Myth
WHEN WE READ a myth or legend, we instinctively understand that we are in the world of fable... We switch gears when we read it; in the words of the poet Coleridge, we "suspend disbelief." But the Gospels are... (continue reading Myth)
Look
Samaritan WHY ARE SO many of us like the priest and the Levite...? Why do we look away from hurting people? We have many reasons. The hassle. The dirt. The risk. The cost. The commitment. The Samaritan interrupted his schedule... (continue reading Look)
One
TO GIVE MY readers an idea of how many people on the Internet one member of the Lord's church can influence -- since January 1, 2009 until today, July 19, 2010, my article blog tracker tells me that I've... (continue reading One)
Blameless
NOAH WAS "RIGHTEOUS in his moral relations to God..." He did what was right. This passage even says he ewas "perfect" (NASV--"blameless"). This cannot mean he was sinless (remember Genesis 9:20-21). Elders too are expected to be "blameless" (1... (continue reading Blameless)