Is it Stupid to Play by the Rules? Rev. Tony Cooke In Psalm 37 and 73, frustration is expressed at seeing people “get ahead,” even though they’ve cut corners and compromised, while the righteous seem to not be making as much progress. Psalm 73:13 (The Message Version) even says, “I’ve been stupid to play by […]

One Who Went Tony Cooke The eyes of the world have been on Japan for the last few weeks as it experienced a 9.0 earthquake, a tsunami that brought unimaginable devastation, and a nuclear incident that has been described as at least a partial meltdown. As these events unfolded, millions around the world have witnessed […]

What Does “I’m Not Under the Law” Really Mean? Tony Cooke When a believer says, “I’m not under the law,” we usually assume that the person is really saying, “I’m not under the law of Moses.” This reflects an accurate understanding of Scripture. Even a casual study of Romans and Galatians will support this. For example, […]

Things Aren’t Always As They Seem Tony Cooke Charles Spurgeon and his wife owned chickens, and people noted that they never gave any of the eggs away, but would only sell them. Some people felt they should have been more generous and accused them of being stingy and greedy. The Spurgeons were aware of these […]

Multi-Dimensional Ministry Tony Cooke One thing is certain about ministry; it is not one-dimensional. Ministry requires that we be able to adapt ourselves and our methods to different people and to different situations. Consider some of the following Scriptures that express this necessity: Romans 12:15 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those […]

More Than a Sermon – More Than a Preacher Tony Cooke It’s amazing how we can focus on certain aspects of Scripture at one point in our lives, only to see richer, broader, deeper thoughts in surrounding and complementary passages as we mature through time, growth, and experience. For example, when I was a Bible […]

Are You Making Pearls or Just Getting Irritated? Rev. Tony Cooke There is a great lesson for us in understanding the formation of pearls.  Natural pearls are formed when a grain of sand or another object slips in between one of the two shells of the oyster.  Because of the irritating nature of the sand, […]

Are You “Looking After” or “Looking Up?” Rev. Tony Cooke Perhaps you’ve heard about the little boy who was given an orange by a man. The boy’s mother asked, “What do you say to the nice man?” The little boy thought for a second, handed the orange back, and said, “Peel it.”  There’s a little […]

Living Deliberately By Tony Cooke Every time January rolls around, people begin speculating about what the New Year will bring. One individual said, "My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there." As understandable as that perspective is, Winston Churchill emphasized the importance of maintaining focus […]

Process, Event, and the Little Red Hen By Tony Cooke Many years ago at a church service, I gave an altar call and a handful of people responded; one of these being a boy in his early teens. I had a self-congratulatory thought as though I was somehow responsible for these responses. Reality came quickly […]

Lessons from a Fallen King Rev. Tony Cooke We are going to look at a person in the Bible who never realized his full potential in God. The person I speak of is Saul from the Old Testament. Saul is not one of the more positive role models given to us in the Word of […]

When Labels are Fables Tony Cooke I’m curious. Who has defined reality for you? What is the basis for how you see yourself, the people around you, your circumstances, your destiny, and your world? How much of your sense of reality has been defined by your parents, your education, society, and the media? The world […]