Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

"and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor." ~ Luke 6:16 "[Judas] said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it." ~ John 12:6 "Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself." ~ Matthew 27:5 These three verses are a summary of the life of one of Jesus' twelve apostles: he was a traitor and a thief who killed himself. Yet I think there has to be more to the story than these verses convey. Jesus chose Judas for the honor of being one of the twelve apostles, and Jesus would not have chosen him if He didn't have a good reason. We know from Acts 1:21-26 that there were other disciples that could have been promoted because, by the end of this passage, Matthias was. Jesus had to have a good reason why Judas was in the top twelve and Matthias wasn't. Unfortunately, that reason is something we will never know because...

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."~John 16:33 As my American readers know, November 8 is Election Day, and the buildup to that day has been incredibly pretentious, especially in the race for the presidency. Each of the two major parties have a candidate that is hated by everyone in the other party, and even some people from their own. Many people have made the decision to vote for their party's candidate not because they want them in the White House, but because they don't want the other party's nominee in there. There are also many choosing to vote for a third party candidate as an act of protest against their party, even though our nation's two-party system renders any third party candidate not viable. Social media has fueled this mutual hatred and release of venom by making it incredibly easy for even the most seemingly insignificant person to...