LEON   VALLEY

Imagine the lamps burning low in the king’s chamber, but the room is crowded. The city is restless. Assyria is swallowing towns like a flood. Refugees are coming in from the countryside with the same story: “They’re coming.” A senior official spreads a map across the table. Another has a ledger open — tribute numbers, grain stores, how long they can last if the roads are cut. One man speaks first. “The emissaries are already on the road, but we need a better plan. Egypt is fa

And while He was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over His head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you tr

Surely You desire Truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. — Ps. 51:6 More often than not, I am my own false prophet. Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others. Before a lie ever reaches the ears of a spouse, friend, enemy, employer — before it ever reaches our own lips, it is first told in the heart (Matt. 15:19; Acts 5:3–4). Public lies are simply private deceptions that finally broke the surface. If I am to live by Truth, I

“ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them ” (Jas. 4:17). After World War I, the Irish poet Yeats, watching Europe fall apart, wrote: “ The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. ” Observing the cultural collapse happening all around him, Yeats chalked it up to good people being hesitant, unsure, or silent, while the wicked were bold, loud, and aggressive. Another Irishman believed the same: “

A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure (Ecc. 7:1-4). “Being unable to cure death, wretchedness a

It’s that time of year when we hear all the hubbub about “keeping Christ in Christmas,” yet few pause to ask, “Who put Him there to begin with?” Conscientious Bible readers are aware of the total absence of Christmas in the New Testament—but if they dare to voice this as a reason for concern…look out! Questions. Assumptions. Strong feelings. 
And usually—more heat than light. Some insist Christmas is a harmless celebration of Christ. Others insist it’s an unauthorized religio

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you recei

“ Now we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully …” (1 Tim. 1:8). Timothy had no small task ahead of him in Ephesus. His orders were to stay and “ instruct certain people not to teach strange doctrines ” (1 Tim. 1:3). These “ certain people ” are never named, but they were the very ones using the law unlawfully — distorting it (v. 3), using it as a prop for speculative, ego-filled, attention-grabbing nonsense (v. 4), ultimately to promote themselves (v. 7). They lo

God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error (Rom. 26:27). Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idol

When Jesus said, “ One of you will betray Me ,” it was as if He held up a mirror before twelve faces. Each man looked not at the others, but into himself—and had to wonder what he was capable of. They had walked with Him for three years, witnessed miracles, preached the kingdom, and been called by name. Yet none trusted himself. Each asked, “ Is it I, Lord ?” (Matt. 26:22). We often imagine betrayal as something “someone else” does—like the hypocrite who stops attending, the

Legalism is one of those terms that gets tossed around frequently in religious discussions. Calling someone legalistic is convenient when you’re losing an argument because it sounds devastating and it instantly puts the accused on the defensive. In my own experience, folks rely on it to close their case without ever making one. What I mean is, they treat it like an emergency brake to stop the conversation instantly because the thought of obedience is making them uncomfortable

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself. Strange isn’t it? Animals accept what is. They face pain, hunger, and death without complaint. When the cold comes, a bird doesn’t curse the sky or question its Maker—it simply drops. No protest. No pause to ask, “Why me?” It just quietly falls. Stoic or Trusting? The quiet dignity of nature is admirable, but Scripture shows a higher one—not th

The Man Who Betrayed the Lord He’s always last on the list. Every time the twelve apostles are named, Judas trails behind like a bad memory — and next to his name is the epitaph that defines him forever: “... the one who betrayed Him ” (Matt. 10:4) “... who also betrayed Him ” (Mk. 3:19) “... who became a traitor ” (Lk. 6:16) The apostle John paints an even darker portrait, calling Judas... “ a devil ” (Jn. 6:70) “ a thief ” (12:6) one “ into whom Satan entered ” (13:27) “ th

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst (Deu

"My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the Truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever...

Jesus said, “ I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do...

After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in...

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery...

Speed Steals Before It Kills In our constant dopamine loop we forget what matters most, and the day's opportunities are lost forever...

Jesus indicted men for their love of human glory:  “They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God” (Jn. 12:43). Such...