Dr. Roger D. Duke

Harsh words released into the air that enter your ear, your mind, and your heart! Words That Harm by Alistair Begg The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell … No human being can tame the tongue. James 3:6, James 3:8 Three things never come back: the spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity. What we say cannot be unsaid. What’s

Hands out in service. Do you serve others? The Destitution Of Service By Oswald Chambers Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. — 2 Corinthians 12:15 Natural love expects some return, but Paul says – “I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God.” “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.” P

A Devotional Thought for Tuesday, February 24, 2026 The Start of Diocletian's Great Persecution Galerius [ABOVE: Galerius—Jona Lendering / [CCO 1.0] Wikimedia] DIOCLETIAN became Roman emperor in 284. Under him, the empire experienced its cruelest and most systematic persecution of Christians. To share the load of governance, he made Maximian his co-emperor and Galerius and Constantius junior emperors. To bind Galerius to himself, Diocletian gave him his daughter Valeria as a

Don't count sheep talk to the Great Sheperd! Sleep BLESSED CREATOR, Thou hast promised thy beloved sleep; Give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow’s toil; If dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil. Let thy Spirit make my time of repose a blessed temple of his holy presence. May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death, the bed I approach remind me of the grave, the eyes I now close picture to me their final closing. Keep me always ready, waiting for adm

A Devotional and Historical Reading for Sunday, February 22 The Media Mocked, but Seymour's Azusa Street Revival Swept the World [BELOW: William Joseph Seymour, c. 1910–1915—public domain, Wikipedia]] Julia Hutchins JULIA HUTCHINS, an African-American preacher in Los Angeles, wanted to go to Africa as a missionary. Needing a replacement to lead the storefront mission she had founded, she wrote to William J. Seymour, inviting him to take her place. Seymour was in Texas where h

Olympian Eric Liddell Ran a Life-long Race for Christ Eric Liddell running for His Lord's Glory! [Left: Eric Liddell at the British Empire versus United States of America (Relays) meet held at Stamford Bridge, London on Sat 19 July 1924—public domain, Wikipedia] IN CHINA, Eric Liddell asked his students if they believed Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. When they said they did, he would say “let’s add it on to the end of the Apostles Creed and when you finish saying the Apostles

Born an Obscure Slave, Frederick Douglass Was World-Famous at His Death [LEFT: Frederick Douglass--Image from [ http://www.lib.utexas.edu University of Texas] FREDERICK DOUGLASS* was born a slave around 1818 but died internationally known and honored in 1895. His path to success was not easy. Taken from his mother as a child, he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, who died when he was seven. After that he had no one to shield him from the full injustice of the sl

The Initiative against Drudgery By Oswald Chambers One like this young woman who trusts, prays, and meditates on Jesus Christ and His Gospel does not have a life of drudgery! Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. — Isaiah 60:1 Drudgery—that hard, dull, seemingly unimportant work that no one wants to do—is one of the finest tests of character there is. Drudge work is utterly lowly and grubby. It requires us to get our hands dirty. It

In the venacular or language of the street this sign tells folk to repent! A Devotional for Wednesday February 18, 2026. From the pen of John Bunyan author of the famous The Pilgrim's Progress! Repentance Produces Love [I believe repentance] . . . produces love. Wherefore Paul when he had put the church in remembrance that they were called of God; added concerning brotherly love they had no need that he should write unto them. If God be so kind to us, to forgive us our sins,

A clean heart renders a good conscience! The Occasion of the Psalm . . . Psalm 73:1 [1] The occasion of it was a temptation the psalmist fell into, through the prosperity of the wicked, and the afflictions of the righteous, to think there was nothing in religion, that it was a vain and useless thing; under which he continued until he went into the house of God, and was taught better; when he acknowledged his stupidity and folly, and penned this psalm, to prevent others fallin

People worshipping at the Cross their Savior the Lord Jesus Christ! Are you one? A Devotional Thought For The Sixteenth Day of the February 2026 “Some Thoughts on Worship” [1] Scripture Portion God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24. That we should render to God worship is due to him. My dear friends, if we were but unconcerned spectators of the glorious God and his wonderful works, it ought to draw out our hearts to adm

One who is listening to God's voice through the Bible and by His Spirit! The Devotion of Hearing From By Oswald Chambers Young Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” — 1 Samuel 3:10 Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively unde

Fanny Crosby saw more than most sighted people ever will! Thursday, February 12 - Daily Story Blind Fanny Crosby Wrote Hymns We Treasure [ABOVE: Fanny Crosby at eighty-six, from her Memories of Eighty Years , 1906. Public domain] ON THIS DATE, 12 February 1915 , Fanny Crosby died at the age of ninety-five. Blind from an early age, she left behind thousands of hymns, many of which remain favorites of the church.  Frances Jane Crosby was born in New York on 24 March 1820. As a

Joy and happiness are more than a Happy Face! It only comes through faith towards God and placing your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! Happiness: Do You Have It? Do You Want It? Where Can You Acquire It? O LORD, Help me never to expect any happiness from the world, but only in thee. Let me not think that I shall be more happy by living to myself, for I can only be happy if employed for thee, and if I desire to live in this world only to do and suffer what thou dost allot me.

Chosen by God! Devotional for Tuesday February 10, 2026 From the pen of John Bunyan, author The Pilgrim's Progress "I Believe God Chooses" Says Bunyan, inmate of the Bedford (England) Jail for years for preaching the Gospel. “And when the Gentiles heard this saying, they began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” Acts 13: 48. I believe that the faith that [saves] is not to be found with any but those in whom

The Day A House Fire Almost Took John Wesley's Life A sketch of John Wesley's home as it burned and his rescue. [On the left; Wesley rescued from fire, from Hyde, A. B. Story of Methodism . Greenfield, Mass: Willey and co. 1887, public domain] JOHN WESLEY’S FATHER Samuel was a Church of England rector at Epworth. Few people attended the town’s only church. For the most part, the parish consisted of rough folk, and Samuel was not popular with them. Parishioners mutilated his a

Our God and His Christ IS THE God of All Comforts! Comforts GIVER OF ALL GOOD, Streams upon streams of love overflow my path. Thou hast made me out of nothing, hast recalled me from a far country, hast translated me from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light, from death to life, from misery to peace, from folly to wisdom, from error to truth, from sin to victory. Thanks be to thee for my high and holy calling. I bless thee for ministering angels, for the comfort of t

Portrait of John Calvin, theologian of the Reformation, author of the devotional for today. Thine Is My Heart: Devotional Readings from the Writings of John Calvin John Calvin (compiled by John H. Kromminga) Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; —I Corinthians 3:21, 22 Devotional: But believers should accustom themselves to such a

Judgment when all shall stand before Christ and give account of their lives, for he alone is worthy to judge in righteousness.   “Who is Worthy?” Please check out The Gospel  as found in ”The Leather Journal” of Dr. Phil Newton. He is former pastor of the South Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. His speaking and writing can be experienced at https://www.southwoodsbc.org/sermons/ “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to

The Eternal God touching Adam to give him life! A Devotional for the Third Day Morning: God Creator and Controller MOST HIGH GOD, The universe with all its myriad creatures is thine, made by thy word, upheld by thy power, governed by thy will. But thou art also the Father of mercies, the God of all grace, the bestower of all comfort, the protector of the saved. Thou hast been mindful of us, hast visited us, preserved us, given us a goodly heritage —the Holy Scriptures, the jo