Have you read the book, The Five Love Languages?

It’s a rather insightful book. It was written by relationship counselor Gary Chapman in 1995.

He said we all tend to show love — and prefer to receive love — in five distinct ways. And quite often, a failure to understand how your mate prefers to receive it can cause conflict and feelings of being unloved and misunderstood.

What are these five love languages?

1. Words of affirmation
2. Quality time
3. Acts of service
4. Gifts
5. Physical touch

So, what do you think is your love language? How about your mate or the people you love?

Here’s a far more important question:

What is God’s love language? How does He prefer to receive love?

Believe it or not, God’s primary love language is none of the above.

• Words of affirmation are great, but Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) said in Mark 7:6–7: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as...

It’s a fact.

The Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. Its 31,102 verses continue to inspire and encourage people through difficult times.

Based on the Bible verse lists compiled and published by BibleGateway.com, BibleStudyTools.com, and YouVersion.com, here are the seven most popular encouraging Bible verses, taken from the New King James Version (NKJV):

1. Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

If there’s anything we need right now, it’s hope.

Bad news is everywhere. It underscores the fact that we are living in dangerous times. No place is totally safe or peaceful any longer.

We ask: Will we ever return to a time when we can walk the streets without fear of being bombed, kidnapped, shot, or raped? Do we really have a future?

This verse is so encouraging because it shows us that God has good plans for us....

“Please hold me, I’m scared.”

My wife clutched my left arm. “Let’s just pray,” I whispered, as I held her close. The cabin lights were starting to flicker.

I’ve been in dozens, if not hundreds of flights before — air turbulence was nothing new to me. But this was, by far, the most severe. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t the least bit worried or anxious.

The passengers would gasp whenever our ATR-72 twin-engine turboprop would suddenly drop 100 feet or more within two or three seconds.

The people seated to our right — who just moments ago were joking, laughing, and talking about celebrities and sports — were now crying out to Mary and all the saints they can remember.

It was hard to see anything outside…

Just dark cumulonimbus clouds and lightning, signaling a big thunderstorm.

We took off just 25 minutes earlier, as the sun was setting over Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Our pilot, Captain Medina,...

June 24, 1994, Perris, California

I glanced at the bright red needle of the altimeter strapped to my chest: 10,500 feet!

I gazed out the window. The roads, trees, and houses blended into one bluish ethereal tint.

Kent, my jumpmaster, told me to put on my helmet and goggles as he began to lock our harnesses together.

We were now 12,500 feet above the drop zone. Two other jumpers slid the door open. The wind chilled my sweaty skin.

I zipped up my jumpsuit and staggered with Kent to the door. Then, I was at the scene I had long imagined — and dreaded.

While the sky seemed inviting, the ground, two-and-a-half miles below, was forbidding. As I got into the jump position, I tried not to think about how scared I was.

Just do it, I thought.

Beneath the roar of the fierce winds that clobbered my face, I heard Kent counting....

“One... two... THREE!”

Suddenly, buckets of adrenalin flooded my bloodstream. For the first three seconds, I felt my stomach surge skyward out the...

You’ve seen it before.

Co-workers are in a huddle — talking, giggling, laughing.

About what exactly, you don’t have an earthly clue. But you get this funny feeling they’re talking about you.

When you walk by to stop and say hello, everyone becomes oh so quiet and behaved all of a sudden.

Sadly, this happens more often than not…

People offend us, and we offend people.

Sometimes without even knowing it.

Of all the lessons in real Christianity, one of the hardest to master is godly relationships. In fact, “Christians” are notorious for treating others badly.

In one church I’ve attended, the most common problem has been expressed this way: “We have not always treated each other in a godly manner.”

Jesus Christ [Yahshua the Messiah] prophesied that “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).

Have you been offended lately? Have you and I caused an offense? Most probably we...

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” —Billy Graham

Are you blessed?

I’m sure you can tell if someone is “blessed.” Today, people say stuff like, “I got a raise! What a real blessing!” Or, “My company gave me a brand-new car! I’m really blessed.” Or, “I married the man of my dreams! I feel truly blessed!”

The word “blessed” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word makarios. It means “happy” or “fortunate,” but it goes far beyond that.

Today, we tend to look at blessings from a purely MATERIAL perspective. We also focus on our PRESENT situation and forget what Jesus (Yahshua) said about future spiritual blessings.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ gives eight signs that we are truly blessed:

1. You are “poor in spirit.”

You recognize your spiritual brokenness...

Making more money will not fix your life—it will just make you more of who you already are. If you get rich and you’re a jerk, you just become a colossal jerk. If you get rich and you have a big heart, they call you a giver and they give it a big long name, a philanthropist. If you get rich, you become more of what you are as you build wealth. So be careful of what you are.” ~Dave Ramsey

It’s quite confusing, isn’t it?

Some preachers say it’s more righteous to be poor; being rich will prevent you from being in God’s Kingdom. Other preachers say no, you cannot glorify God by being poor; it’s His will that all His children be rich.

Who is correct? What does the Bible really say?

I posed this question to the teens and young adults in one of our weekly Wednesday night Bible studies many years ago. I divided the group in two and asked them to discuss it for 15 minutes and then come up with relevant Bible passages that would support...

Do you have a dream — a burning desire or goal you wish to achieve?

When I was 18, I had such a dream. My dream was to attend Ambassador College (AC), the very best college of its kind in the United States.

I'll never forget the excitement I felt the day I received my letter of acceptance. I was given a regional scholarship! It was like winning a million dollars in a sweepstake!

Little did I know what was to befall me within 12 weeks: three nightmares — three humongous, pitch-black monsters — that would threaten to snuff my dream from existence.

After all, I'm from the Philippines — a third-world country. Distance was a problem, money was a big problem, immigration was a big, big problem. 

To leave the Philippines, I had to obtain a student visa from the United States Consulate. Only three chances for a visa interview is allowed at any one time. If my applications are turned down thrice, I wouldn’t be...

Have you ever seen a diamond?

Nothing compares to its dazzling beauty, its sheer elegance, or its fiery brilliance. It is the hardest natural substance on earth.

It is, in fact, 40 times harder than a sapphire or a ruby, the next hardest minerals. Only another diamond can scratch a diamond.

A diamond is the greatest conductor of heat, is transparent over the greatest number of wavelengths, has the highest melting point (4,090 degrees Celsius — 2 1/2 times greater than that of steel!) and has a refractive index greater than any naturally occurring gemstone — giving it its characteristic fire and brilliance. Diamonds are among the rarest and costliest of gemstones.

But you may ask: What magical substance is a diamond made of? Ironically, just about the same substance found in one of the softest of all minerals — the graphite in the lead of your pencil!

Diamonds are pure crystalline carbon formed 200 kilometers deep within the earth millions of years ago. The...

When I was in third year high school, I had a very inspiring English teacher, Mr. Edgardo “Guy” Simondac. I will never forget him for as long as I live. He made an impact on my life.

For one of our class assignments, he asked us to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach, and write a reaction paper about it. I remember picking up that small paperback in the library and bringing it home with me. It was a story about a seagull who dreamed of flying like the eagles. He thought differently from all the other seagulls. He didn’t settle for mediocrity.

I wrote my paper with so much zeal and enthusiasm. I passionately shared the insights I had gained. I was so moved and inspired by the message of the book.

On the deadline, we turned in our reaction papers to Mr. Simondac.

A few days later, Mr. Simondac saw me in the lobby of our school building.

“My G**, you are a writer!” he exclaimed.

He handed me my paper, and I saw a 98% scribbled in red...