Derrick G. Jeter holds a master of theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and served as a writer for the Creative Ministries Department of Insight for Living Ministries. He has authored or coauthored more than twenty-five books. Derrick's writing has appeared on influential Web sites, and he is a contributing writer for The Christian Post. He and his wife, Christy, have five children and live in the Dallas area. He blogs at www.DerrickJeter.com.
Water is life. It is also death. For much of human history, whether because of humanity’s ignorance or inability to dispose of and treat sewage, or because of animal dung and rotting corpses in rivers and streams, water-borne pathogens such as cholera, dysentery, and malaria resulted in epidemics and mass deaths. The city of Ephesus, […]
Read More“The world does not revolve around you!” “You are not the center of the universe!” “Your mother and I are the sun; you’re the moon!” I bet my wife Christy and I have said something like this to our children hundreds, if not thousands, of times—because I have five of those rascals. I’m sure your […]
Read MoreGod delights in diversity. And from it, He gets a kick out of creating unity. Hence the surprise love story of two very diverse people. He’s a Mexican engineer-turned-pastor, transplanted to Texas 15 years ago, and now the pastor of Insight for Living Ministries’ Spanish-language ministry, Visión Para Vivir, and the pastor of Stonebriar Community […]
Read MoreOn July 19, AD 64, a fire broke out in Rome, destroying ten of the city’s fourteen districts. The inferno raged for six days and seven nights, flaring sporadically for an additional three days. Though the fire probably started accidentally in an oil warehouse, rumors swirled that Emperor Nero had ordered the inferno so he […]
Read MoreLaw is the protector of justice. But when madmen make law, justice becomes perverted. When Paul was arrested, he was brought before a tribunal to determine whether sufficient evidence existed for a formal trial. This “first defense” (4:16) or prima actio included a presentation of the case against Paul, as well as his opportunity to present […]
Read MorePaul’s ministry was not easy. From the moment of his conversion, after he was struck blind on the Damascus road, to the moment he was beheaded in Rome, Paul knew hardship. He provided a graphic, pen portrait of his ministry in 2 Corinthians 11:23–33. Some of the hardships Paul faced included “dangers among false brethren” […]
Read MoreThe Mamertine Prison in Rome could have been called the “House of Darkness.” Few prisons were as dim, dank, and dirty as the lower chamber Paul occupied. Known in earlier times as the Tullianum dungeon, its “neglect, darkness, and stench” gave it “a hideous and terrifying appearance,” according to Roman historian Sallust.1Sallust, The War with […]
Read MoreIn his earlier years, John was a short-tempered man with a burning fuse. On one occasion, after Jesus was rejected by the Samaritans, John forgot himself and with whom he was speaking and asked if the Lord would like him to “command fire to come down from heaven and consume [the Samaritans]?” (Luke 9:54). Who […]
Read MoreA cold war existed between the Jews and Samaritans when it came to the issue of worship. The woman at the well distinguished the dividing line in this worship war: “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain [Mount Gerizim], and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship” (John 4:20). […]
Read MoreShe had a reputation no woman would ever want: she was a harlot, a prostitute. But she was also a woman whose courage and faith in God would transcend her reputation and place her in the lineage of the Messiah. Rahab owned a house, built on the outer walls of Jericho. When two Israelite spies […]
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