Kerry Duke

The Road to a Serpent’s Bite

[397 words] The wise man Solomon gave specific warnings that most people ignore. He said that a loose tongue will get you into trouble (Prov. 18:7). He warned that pride will bring a man low (Prov. 16:18). He said that toying with lust is like playing with fire (Prov. 6:25-29). Millions pay a heavy price…

Hope For the Next Generation?

[456 words] “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). We must teach the Word of God to saints and sinners. Generations come and go, but the truth is the same and that message needs…

Three Good Fellows

[517 words] We need other Christians. We depend on them to help us. Even Paul needed brothers and sisters to help him do his work and bear his burdens. In the little book of Philemon, Paul named some of these good “fellows.” Philemon the fellow laborer (v. 1). This brother worked with Paul in the…

Feeling the Tension?

[440 words] It was the year 54 A.D. Rome, the most powerful nation on earth, coronated its new leader Nero, the adopted son of the previous ruler Claudius. The church was just over twenty years old. The movement that was small at first had spread throughout the Empire. These early Christians could not have imagined…

Cheers to the Devil

[472 words] Drinking is becoming more accepted in society and in the church. This week within a 24-hour period a deacon in one state and a preacher in another shared their experiences with me. The deacon said they are having trouble reaching young people. Why? His answer: “They want to party.” The preacher related a…

The God of the Storm

[484 words] A storm spells trouble if you work outside. But not for God. He is the Master of bringing good out of chaos. The first book of the Bible shows that the conflict and confusion we cause cannot hinder Him. We talk about family troubles today. But this is as old as mankind. The…

An Easier Way?

[496 words] The journey to the promised land was a long, hard road. I am not just talking about the forty years in the wilderness. Long before that trial when Abraham didn’t even have a son, God told him that his descendants would suffer many years in another country. “Know certainly that your descendants will…

Timely Issues in First Timothy

[537 words] Is homosexuality against the Bible? The law is made “for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:10). Will God forgive blasphemy? “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained…

Forgotten Critics

[567 words] I have never had any interest in what movie or music critics say. I think most people feel the same way. We know what we like or don’t like. In the end, who cares about what they say? Who remembers them? You can name songs and films you enjoy, but who can name…

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[496 words] “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). “I’d rather…

A Son Not Like His Father

[657 words] “She is just like her mother.” “He is exactly like his dad.” It is amazing how much children favor their parents, especially when they become adults. They look like their parents. They talk and walk and sit like them. They respond with the same words, gestures and facial expressions. For good or bad,…

Tampering with the Election

[547 words] Voter fraud is not new. We should not be surprised. Politics brings out the worst in people—pride, greed, lust for power, and dishonesty. Why would anyone think we have risen above ballot box manipulation? Many times in our history corrupt men have used intimidation, false registration, bribery, and vote alteration to steal elections.…

No Young People at Church?

[519 words] “It’s sad because they have no young people at that congregation.” How many times have you heard or made that comment? It’s understandable. When you see a church or you are in a church of mostly older people, you fear for its future. In some cases the older members may be at fault.…

Phone Home?

[569 words] “Mr. Duke, what do you think about the question of life on other planets?” More than one Russian student asked me this question in a Moscow university over thirty years ago. I had expected questions about God, and there were many. But I was surprised at the number of times they asked about…

A Truly Global Outlook

[602 words] The world is getting smaller. We constantly hear about globalism—global economics, global politics, global environmentalism, and a host of other world interests. It is time that we tell others how to look at the world rather than letting people who are not even Christians and who don’t know the Bible lecture us about…

The Year Ahead

[544 words] “For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 6:12). An issue of Time magazine almost thirty years ago gave examples of men who tried to do what man cannot do—predict the future. Here are some of these predictions made in the 1900’s as listed in Time,…

The Devil’s Asset

[577 words] Samson was an incredibly strong man. The Lord gave him his strength, and as long as he kept his vow secret he was safe. No man or band of men could defeat him, but a woman named Delilah did. The Bible says, “And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with…

The Conflict Within

[520 words] “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). All of us struggle with our feelings. They give us joy, but they also bring grief. A Christian woman was talking about these bad feelings and said, “I believe everybody has trouble with these inner demons.”…

Are We That Helpless?

[548 words] I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Of course, we say that about a lot of what we hear these days. This time I was in a waiting room where health tips were given on a screen—how to lower blood sugar, getting better sleep and dealing with other common problems. Then a lady…

Two Battlefronts

[581 words] A Christian friend from a third world country told me, “America is in a war.” That war is inside our land. It is a moral and spiritual conflict. We have been saying this for years, and we sense it now more than ever. To hear someone who was raised in such a different…

Equal Before God

[510 words] “There is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11). “All men are created equal” (Declaration of Independence). People are different and life is not fair. No government program can change this. These may be cold hard facts but they are the truth. God did not make everyone the same. He could have made us…

Darwin’s Arch Collapses

[502 words] So the headlines read when a massive stone bridge in the Galapagos islands named after the famous biologist broke in the middle and left two towers of solid rock jutting out of the ocean. But the recent fall of this monument was not merely the loss of a reminder of the work of…

God Can’t Do Everything

[518 words] These words can sound discouraging. Doesn’t the Bible say, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37)? Which way is it? The same Bible that says nothing is impossible with God also says there is something He cannot do. “It is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). God “cannot lie” (Titus…

For Your Heirs

[515 words] “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Prov. 13:22). The good side of an inheritance is that it gives children a start in life. It is one of the most effective forms of compound interest ever devised. The bad side is that children often fight over an inheritance. One man…

It’s Just Not Fair

[582 words] A question that has troubled mankind for thousands of years is this: Why is life so unfair? From start to finish the books of the Bible talk about it. Saints and sinners alike feel they have been wronged for no reason but want to know why, and both of them point their finger…

Unshakeable Faith in the Immoveable Kingdom

[489 words] In the heat of the Civil War, Moses Lard penned this “Note to the Brotherhood” to encourage Christians: “More now than ever before in this country; do even Christians need to be placed completely under the influence of Christianity. In mind and heart they are deeply and painfully agitated. Christianity alone can tranquillize…

To The End

[471 words] I was looking at a display in a Civil War Museum when I noticed an old letter. A Confederate soldier wrote the letter to his wife in August 1864. He mentioned some interesting things about the war and the times, but what really impressed me was how he closed the letter. I expected…

Light for the Road Ahead

[496 words] Change is stressful. Our country is torn apart and the world seems turned upside down. The Bible is balm for our hearts in these troubled times. One book in particular shows us how to think as we adjust. It is the book of Ecclesiastes. Here are some verses that will give us peace…

Is This Why America is in Trouble?

[566 words] Why did God overthrow governments in the Old Testament? Was it because of idolatry? Bloodshed? Oppression of the poor? Sexual sins and perversion? These sins stand out as reasons for the downfall of nations. But one evil was beneath these sins, and it often goes unnoticed as the cause of the demise of…

Perils in Church Buildings?

[533 words] I was touring one of the oldest log church buildings in America when I noticed holes in the walls. “What are these holes?” I asked. A guide explained that they were drilled so men could put their rifles through the holes to shoot at indians if they attacked while the church was meeting.…

Fighting in Our Streets and God

[414 words] Nations reap what they sow just as individuals do. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psa. 9:17). This happens partly because rebellion against God is by nature self-destructive and partly because God providentially intervenes to chastise evil societies. In terms of the latter, one of…

How To Destroy A Country

[362 words] “One university after another is bowing before the violent demands of a small minority of radicals who intend to overthrow the existing government…The radicals fully intend to overthrow the national government and replace it according to their own fuzzy, undefined lines which they cannot explain. They have decided to seek as many confrontations…

The Bad Samaritan

[533 words] “Which one?” That’s what a typical Jew in Jesus’ time would have asked about this title. To many Jewish people, all Samaritans were bad. There was no such thing as a good Samaritan. The truth, of course, is that Samaritans were like other people. Some were good and some were bad. Although the…

‘My’ Religion

[565 words] A famous country singer told how she got religion. When she was a child, her mother said the Holy Spirit told her that her daughter had a special gift. When she grew up and started singing, she said the gift had to come from God because she didn’t get it from her mother…

A Marriage to Consider

[455 words] Marriages in the Bible were like marriages today. Some were better than others and some were worse, but all of them had their ups and downs. We can relate to their joys and struggles and learn from these old stories. Consider the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac was the son of promise.…

Elements of a Depraved Culture

[500 words] No God. People have many gods, but not God. They have the god of pleasure. They worship the god of money. Their “god is their belly” (Phil. 3:19). Though the creation plainly declares God (Psa. 19:1), they still refuse to acknowledge Him. No Fear. When men turn to themselves, they become presumptuous, self-willed,…

Abide in the Same Calling

[621 words] Do the best you can in whatever circumstance you face. Your situation in life is never completely ideal. Make the most of it regardless of the obstacles. There are some circumstances you can change, there are some you cannot. But you can live the Christian life either way. Earthly conditions don’t last. Even…

The Path to Peace

[502 words] One of the great passages in the Bible on having peace of mind is in Philippians 4. Here are the keys: Make up your mind to be happy. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (v.4). Abraham Lincoln said a man is about as happy as he makes up his…

To Have and to Lose

[542 words] There is “a time to get, and a time to lose” (Ecc. 3:6). Suffering loss is a part of living. We lose money. We lose health. We lose friends. We lose loved ones. We lose our happiness. Life is a constant cycle of ups and downs, gains and losses. Circumstances beyond our control…

Our Spokesmen?

[534 words] Being ridiculed for our beliefs is a burden Christians must bear. This is not easy but it should not be a surprise. If Jesus was mocked and the early church was called a sect, why should we expect the world to understand us? It is natural to feel frustrated at times. Christians are…

Can Any Good Come From Stress?

[549 words] Samuel was one of the best men in the Bible. We read about his good life of faith and justice in 1 Samuel, but it is a statement made hundreds of years later about him that tells us just how godly a man he was. In Jeremiah’s day the people of Judah were…

Sobriety Tests

[600 words] The Bible says Christians are to be sober. We must “be sober” if we are to face our adversary the devil (1 Pet. 5:8). Young and old and men and women alike must “live soberly” in this sinful world (Titus 2:1-12). Like many other virtues we read in the New Testament, this word…

Hungry? Really?

[458 words] “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet” (Prov. 27:7). When you are full you don’t want anything else to eat. Even a delicious dessert has no appeal. If you are really hungry, however, you will eat what you can even if it is something…

Therapy for Offenders

[475 words] A newspaper headline read, “Man Gets 176 years for Sex Trafficking.” The man pleaded guilty to 33 counts ranging from trafficking for sexual servitude to statutory rape. Such headlines are common today. Though they pale in comparison to the life sentence plus 1,000 years that Ariel Castro received for h.is unspeakable crimes of…

Your Example Still Matters

[458 words] In this wicked age we may be tempted to think that people no longer care or even notice immorality. Even in evil times, however, there is usually enough of a sense of decency in a community for people to recognize a shameful act. The period of the judges was a corrupt and dangerous…

How Could They?

[404 words] One of the sins of the dark world of the Gentiles in the first century was being “without natural affection” (Rom. 1:31). This is the natural love we have for our kin, especially for our parents and our children. It is not just being “unloving” as the New King James translates this verse.…

Stay Away From These People

  [537 words] The wise man himself, Solomon, tells us not to get close to: People who are always changing their mind. “Meddle not with them that are given to change” (Prov. 24:21). You can’t depend on these people. You can’t trust them. They have no convictions or principles. They change with the situation. They…

Portraits of Endurance

  [579 words] Barton W. Stone was born in 1772. In his autobiography he wrote, “My father, John Stone, died when I was very young. I have no recollection of him in life.” He grew up without his father, but he never used his loss as an excuse to rebel or quit. When soldiers returned…

Heavenly Sunlight

  [459 words] “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matt. 4:16). The world can be a dark place. “The whole world,” John wrote, “lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). Satan, the “prince of this world” (John…

A Few Gray Hairs

[565 words] “Gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not” (Hos. 7:9). “I see some gray hair!” We all hear these Words eventually. The hoary head is one of creation’s Way of reminding us that our lives are like a flower. They bloom and fade quickly. Hosea did not bring up…

Conforming to the World

[562 words] One of the most horrific crimes in the history of Israel took place in the days of the weeping prophet Jeremiah. The people built “the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal” (Jer. 19:5). How could God’s people have done something this barbaric? The Lord…

How Do You Feel?

[596 words] God gave us feelings. We feel joy and sadness, anger and fear. These emotions test us. They can help or hinder us in our choice between right and wrong. Who we are and where we spend eternity depends on how we handle them. It feels good to be happy. God wants us to…

Are You at a Loss?

[559 words] Paul said, “We are perplexed, but not in despair” (2 Cor. 4:8). The word perplexed means more than just being puzzled. It comes from aporeo which means “to be at loss with one’s self, be in doubt; not to know how to decide or what to do, to be perplexed” (Thayer, 66). We…

Unique Expressions

[483 words] “And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before” (Gen. 31:2). Jacob could tell by the look on Laban’s face that he was not happy with him. The expression on our face may say more than we realize. God made us social creatures who communicate not…

Do These Verses Apply?

[554 words] People find ways to get around verses that condemn them. Two groups with different agendas use the same maneuvers to reject passages that are against them. One is the homosexual movement and the other is the feminist movement. Here are some of their arguments . “I’ll Take Jesus Over Paul.” President Barack Obama…

Grow Up!

“But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children…” (Matt. 11:16). If there is a word that describes our generation, it is the word childish. Children are selfish. They can surprise us with acts of giving, but their world view is not big enough to see the needs of others like they…

The Wrong Kind of Deterrence

Anti-death penalty groups argue that capital punishment does not prevent further crimes. They are wrong. The Bible says the death penalty is a strong deterrent (Deut. 13:6-11; Ecc. 8:11; Rom. 13:4). If anyone thinks fear of reprisal doesn’t work, then let him consider the effect of fear in a different context: the fear of being…

For The Love of Money

Ananias and Sapphira lied to God about the price of the land they had sold. They died for their greed (Acts 5:1-11). King Ahab pouted like a baby when Naboth refused to sell him his vineyard, so Jezebel killed Naboth and gave the land to her husband. But this evil pair paid for their covetousness…

Thoughts Not to Entertain

If Paul had thought like some today, he would have written to the Ephesians like this: “Paul the apostle to the saints at Ephesus. Brethren, I rejoiced when I went into the theater in your city to behold the shows. The play of Aristophanes was a magnificent story of a man who overcame poverty and…

Charges of Sexual Misconduct

[455 words] Sexual scandals among high-profile people in politics and the media don’t surprise us. We’ve heard so much of it that we’re sick of hearing about it. What else can we expect from Godless people who lie for a living? A few generations ago there was a clear line between what should be mentioned…

Watch for Briars

[389 words] “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection” (Luke 8:14). The world has always offered man pleasure. It has always suffocated spirituality because men love darkness rather than…

Persons of Conviction

[432 words] A traveling preacher in pioneer days asked a backwoods woman if she had any religious convictions. She said, “Naw, nor my ole man neither. He was tried for hog stealin’ once, but he warn’t convicted.” Some people understand the word conviction about as much as this woman did. Yet conviction is the very…

Securing Your Future?

[473 words] “My family will never go hungry.” A famous athlete was talking about the millions of dollars he had made in his career. In one way we can appreciate his concern for his children and the way he had managed his money. He hadn’t neglected his family or squandered his wealth. But it was…

Move On

Joseph was a good young man. He was seventeen when his own jealous brothers sold him to Ishmaelite traders. He was taken to Egypt —away from his family and his home. This was a traumatic experience. But Joseph did not use what happened to him as an excuse. He did not become bitter. He did…

The Wicked Never Learn

[364 words] Anyone who is willing can learn the Truth and be saved. Jesus said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17). John wrote, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely’ (Rev. 22:17). Anyone with a truly good and honest heart will accept and…

Heart to Heart, Face to Facebook

[525 words] “A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine” (Ecc. 8:1). What about the example you set before others on the internet? Does your Christian light shine on Facebook? Do you use wisdom about what you post or share? There is no question that this avenue of communication is used for good. Family, friends,…

Into Texting?

[602 words] The word “text” has taken on a different meaning in this generation. In light of our familiarity with texting, we should be able to relate to a few lessons about the most important text message that has ever been sent. Context. A text of Scripture must be understood in its context. The verses…

When Change Doesn’t Last

A Confederate soldier was captured and sent to a Maryland prison in 1865. While there he decided to write about his experiences as a soldier in the Civil War. As he described “the vices of army life,” he revealed an old familiar side of human nature. Gambling was a favorite pastime of many soldiers. Some…

Cityslickers and Rednecks In the Same Pew

The church is made up of people who are different. In the New Testament people from all kinds of backgrounds were converted and became members of the same congregation. Paul said what mattered is that they were Christians. In Christ he said there is “neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor…