Everybody remembers the famous story of David and Goliath; but few people remember that there was one giant that David could not kill. His name was Ishbi-benob, and he almost killed David! “But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.”
There are several practical lessons from this story of the “forgotten giant” that I would like to share with you.
If you want to learn about love,you turn to 1 Corinthians 13. The subject of thenew birthis explained in John 3, and the doctrine of the resurrectionis given in 1 Corinthians 15. One of the basic texts on “The will of God” is Romans 12:1–2—a familiar text, but an important one.
Nobody has to argue the importance of knowing and doing the will of God. Doing God’s will is important to us personally, because it is the secret of a joyful, fruitful life. It is important to those who are a part of our lives. David …
We are surprised that Dr. Luke devotes an entire chapter to a description of a storm and a shipwreck. This is perhaps the most dramatic chapter in the entire Book of Acts, but it is more than exciting history: it carries some valuable lessons for us as Christians.
We often picture life as a journey or a voyage. Bunyan did this in Pilgrim’s Progress; life is a pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the City of God. Homer followed the same idea in The Odyssey, using the image of a voyage. Melville did it in Moby Dick. …
Diana was the most popular goddess in the Asian world. There were 33 centers for her worship, and the greatest of them was at Ephesus. The temple of Diana (or Artemis) was one of the wonders of the ancient world. The month of May was dedicated to Diana, and at that time thousands of worshippers would come to Ephesus to pay their respects. Little did the pilgrims know that during their festival there would be a riot! Acts 19 certainly presents a dramatic picture as you see that mob jamming into the theater (it seated 25,000) and shouting “Great is …