KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Kneemail - Sin
THE BRITISH ARE having trouble with foxes... According to The Wall Street Journal, the sly little fellows have moved into London and are making a general nuisance of themselves. They knock over rubbish cans, swipe shoes left out to dry,...
THERE'S THE STORY of the social drinker... He ended up a drunk. He had two sons. They watched his example. When they grew up, they followed in his footsteps to alcoholism. Finally, the father recognized the futility of his life,...
PERHAPS THE BEST way for us to be able to realize the terribleness of sin and the ugliness of spiritual death to draw an illustration from the physical realm... I am asking you to search your own reservoir of experience...
WHEN I WAS a boy, I had a bike that I had grown tired of... There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just wanted something better...a 10-speed. So I took my fire-engine red, Huffy bicycle, with a white banana seat,...
ON MANY OCCASIONS, I have heard the oft repeated statement that "There are no atheists in foxholes..." In other words, when it comes right down to life and death situations, even atheists will seek out help from God. However, I'm...
THIS PAST WEEK, on June 16 the, a major religious body in the United States, at their national convention, voted against two proposals that expressed opposition to all same sex unions... My response to such an action is two-fold: ....
WE MUST ADMIT that all Christians (including preachers, Bible teachers, and elders) are imperfect... At that level, everyone has been hypocritical -- inconsistent, at least -- at times. It is impossible to perfectly live up to the "perfect law of...
WHY DO BRETHREN fall away...? In some cases, they were so drawn to wantonness and worldliness that they raced headfirst back to their former lifestyles. Many others, however, are drowned in grief, sorrow, discouragement, loneliness, doubt, confusion and external pressures....
AMONG THE ITEMS in the national media lately has been the release of the controversial movie entitled "Brokeback Mountain..." According to reviews, the movie depicts the story of two western men who enter into a homosexual relationship and then (after...
A FRIEND IS a friend is a friend... He will be there, regardless. To illustrate. A brother sins. He is a sinner. No question about it. But a friend does more than condemn. Too many "friendly churches" drop you in...
WORRY IS WIDESPREAD and is a universal problem... It is not limited to any one class. The poor and rich, the cultured and the unlearned and both the young and old worry. We worry about how to get money, and,...
EVERY 27 MINUTES someone in this country is killed by alcohol... Thirty million families suffer because a father, or a mother, or both are alcoholics. Beverage alcohol kills more than 200,000 Americans each year. 80,000 died at Hiroshima, 35,000 died...
SHORTLY BEFORE HIS death, the Duke of Burgundy was presiding over the Cabinet Council of France... A proposal was made by the ministers that would violate a treaty but would secure important advantages for the country. Many reasons were offered...
WALKING PAST MY barn one day, I heard a frantic chirping inside, and upon investigation I found a bluejay beating its wings against the glass pane of the window... Had it not cried and squawked, I would not have heard...
A CERTAIN MAN wanted to see his house in Haiti for $2000... Another man wanted to buy it; but, because he was poor, he could not afford the full price. After some "bargaining" the seller agreed to sell the house...
AT VALLEY FORGE in the winter of 1777-78, George Washington and his troops were in utterly desperate straits... He appealed to the governor of Pennsylvania for help. Jacob DeHaven was a staunch believer in the revolutionary cause and lived near...
SIN IS NOT stagnant... It never stays in one place, person, family, community, or country. A judge may sequester a jury, and a doctor may quarantine a disease, but no man or earthly power can isolate sin. Sin stalks its...
CONTRARY TO COMMON belief, the ostrich does not bury its head in the sand to ignore danger... An ostrich can run at a speed of 45 miles per hour, kick powerfully, and peck aggressively with its beak. As the largest...
THE PRICE OF gasoline has skyrocketed, and people are feeling the crunch... Many are taking advantage of car pools, commuter buses, and trains. Others are looking for more efficient vehicles. Driving habits are changing. High prices have brought change. If...
FUNNY HOW UGLY sin looks when it is someone else who has committed it... Isn't it interesting that Jesus said, "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own...
MOSES THOUGHT ABOUT sin... He considered the eternal dimensions of staying in Egypt and sharing in the sensual pursuits of his peers. "What faced [Moses] was a crisis decision: whether to remain in the eyes of men 'the son of...