My God and My Neighbor

They weren’t related by blood, but they had the same heart. Both of them had an unselfish, giving spirit. Bible readers usually recognize one of their names, but they don’t know much about the second. Yet Paul paid to each of these men some of the highest compliments he ever gave anyone outside of the Lord Himself. They stand out in the New Testament among the saints, but not because they were sma...

Don’t let the title fool you. If you’ve read your Bible a lot, you’re probably thinking this is a lesson from Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. But this is different. Jesus talked about letting your light shine by doing good . In this episode, Paul shows us that we let our light shine by what we don’t do. The book of Philippians is about how to face trials and tribulations. It is a book abo...

Today we look backward and forward at the same time. This episode will help you do both. We’ve pulled an episode from the archives that fits this time of the year perfectly. We’re going back 100 years to America in the 1920s. Why? To see how we arrived at this point in our beliefs and morals. To learn how to appreciate what we have. To understand verses like Ecclesiastes 1:9—“That which has been i...

We decided to air an episode from the archives this week. If there’s one thing everybody wrestles with, it’s anxiety. Holidays are wonderful—at least they should be. But the real world is full of heartaches and trials, and they hit at the worst possible time. In this episode you’ll hear from generations who lived through the struggles of life and made it through them. More importantly, you’ll hear...

Being a Christian is a group matter because you are part of a family of other Christians. But it’s an individual matter because there are things you must do yourself. That’s the lesson of this episode from Philippians 2:12. This discussion helps us avoid two common extremes: being so independent that we think we can do it without others and being so dependent on others that we blame them if someth...

You could say the verses we’ll look at today are the pinnacle of Christian sacrifice and service. This entire book teaches us to think of others and not be selfish. There is no greater example of this than Jesus. In this passage Paul tells us to have the same “mind” or frame of mind Jesus had. He left heaven and came to the earth to serve to die.  No other founder of any of the major world religio...

Does the Bible only say it’s wrong to get drunk—that it’s not wrong to drink? Many say this. In fact, the idea that “It’s okay to drink in moderation” is almost gospel to some Christians. In this episode, we will address this burning issue of our time. We will look at the question: Does the word ‘wine’ in the Bible always mean alcoholic wine? And, we will examine the famous story of Jesus turning...

In this special Thanksgiving episode of My God & My Neighbor , we pause our study of Philippians to reflect on the blessings God gives every day. Kerry Duke shares Scriptures on gratitude, reads from the original 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, and reminds us why thankfulness is far more than a holiday tradition—it’s a Christian way of life. Whether this season brings joy or hardship, this epi...

Have you ever been in a good dilemma—one where both alternatives were good, and it was hard to say which one was best? That’s how Paul looked at living or dying! Most people would say that’s an easy call because living is good and dying is bad. But Paul said both are good to a Christian. Either way, the future is bright. The one thing that tips the scales is what is needed, not what we want. In th...

Paul was a prisoner. He was under house arrest in Rome. The Jews had tried to kill him but they failed. What could the great apostle to the Gentiles do? Why would God allow him to be kept from traveling so that he could convert lost souls and build up churches? We see so little. We look at troubles through thick lenses of pessimism and doubt that distort our thinking. Paul teaches us in this episo...

What does the word fellowship in the Bible mean? Most people think of getting together at a meal and maybe in worship. But it means much more. It comes from a Greek word which means sharing. What is shared depends on the verse you’re reading.  In the book of Philippians, Paul says the Christians in Philippi shared with him in some very important ways we need to imitate. And, one reward of this fel...

It only takes a few minutes to read it. You probably know by heart some of the verses in it. But when you read it as a whole and take time to absorb it, you’ll be amazed at how helpful it is. It’s a short book in the Bible that is packed with meaningful direction for our lives.  In this episode, we’ll look at three areas of our life we often struggle with. Then in the next episode we’ll begin to l...

When things go awry, it’s time to go back to the basics. This is true in education, in business, in sports or any other area of life. It is certainly true in morals.  Our world is very mixed up. The only way to have clarity in a world or confusion is to begin at the beginning. In the study of right and wring, that means going back to the first book of the Bible—the book of Genesis. There we find t...

Ask anyone today how life is going and soon you’ll hear about money. It is a big part of life. No wonder the Bible says so much about it, Sometimes we can sympathize with Agur the son of Jakeh. He prayed, “Give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.”  A...

There are few topics where religion and politics come together like they do in the case of Israel. Should they? Does the Bible have anything special to say about the nation of Israel that it doesn’t say about every other country? In this episode we will look at the highly controversial issue of the nation of Israel today and its relationship, if any, to prophecies in the Old Testament. This is als...

When Covid turned the world upside down in 2020, we lost a lot of trust in what we’d been told—by the government, by the medical profession, and by all types of media and “experts.” Who can we trust anymore? The dilemma is not all that complicated in regard to our spiritual life. There are only two choices: we can either trust God or trust man. Most people make the mistake of trusting in human bei...

News of the assassination of Charlie Kirk sent another shock wave throughout the country. Now that the reality of the crime has sunk in, attention has shifted to what should be done with the alleged shooter. The tragedy occurred in Utah, and Utah is one of 27 states that have the death penalty.  President Trump is calling for it.  Anti-capital punishment groups on the other side are complaining th...

There is a strong, clear message in the Bible from beginning to end: we are responsible for what we do. Our society is bent on denying this simple fact. Other people make us act the way we do. Conditions in our body determine how we behave. We are just products of heredity and environment. God cuts through all of these rationalizations. He gives us free will and we decide what we do with it. It’s...

When historians in the future list the worst tragedies of our time, what will they mention? Covid? Terrorism? Katrina? Somewhere on that list will probably be school shootings. We have asked the question “Why?” repeatedly in this series. If anything defies our ability to make sense out of human behavior, this crime does. This is one of those subjects people almost unanimously agree on in one sense...

Studies show that depression is a common problem worldwide. There are many reasons for it. In poor countries the cause may be poverty. In America, ironically, the reason may be wealth. In the Bible we read of many people who struggled with depression—some because of their own choices and others for no fault of their own. All of us must deal with it.  The book of Ecclesiastes is about depression we...

He had it all – money, power, fame, and wisdom. He didn't have to worry about having enough money to pay for anything. He never had to ask anyone's permission to do something. He was the king of Israel in its heyday. But he also saw a lot of injustice in life. And with all his power, money and wisdom, there was often nothing he could do about the unfairness of life. He saw others being treated unf...

Prophets of God were human too. They struggled with their feelings. They felt like giving up at times. They wrestled with the unfairness of life. Jeremiah, sometimes called “The Weeping Prophet,” shows this side of himself in the book that bears his name.   This man of God asked God “Why?’ and “How long?” But God didn’t give him the answer we might expect. This is a hard lesson to learn, but this...

What if God did speak directly from heaven and answer our old question: “Why, Lord?” One Old Testament prophet kept crying out to God. He asked why evil was everywhere around him and how long God was going to tolerate it. When God answered him, He told the prophet that He was about to put an end to these evil people and their wicked ways. That should have satisfied the prophet and ended the conver...

If you are a Christian, it is scary to think about losing your faith. How does this happen? It happens when we are pulled away from God. It occurs when we are distracted. When we look at the world instead of listening to God, we are vulnerable.  One of the great things about the Bible is its honesty about good and great men. It does not pull punches. Even the greatest men of the Bible were human....

How do you respond to a child or teenager who is complaining about something he doesn’t understand? You might try to explain, but he may not be ready for that. If he’s a teenager and is convinced he’s right, you’ll probably ask him some questions to show him he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does. That’s what God did with Job. This final section to the greatest book ever written on the probl...