Category: CHRISTIAN LIFE
Imprisoned by Peers: Releasing the Captives
Here’s a valuable question to ask those who have not believed in Christ: “How can you ever believe in Christ if you accept praise from your peers, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from God?” That was the question Jesus asked religious...
When It Seems Like God Doesn’t Love Me
Certain sufferings can make us ask hard questions about God. “Is it really true that there is a God who loves me? I have thrown myself on the Lord, I have prayed with real trust in him. But nothing, no response. Why am I still suffering?”...
Didn’t Jesus Come to Bring Peace on Earth?
I like to be at peace with people. If I sense there is conflict in a relationship, I’m stressed. But according to Jesus, his followers are not meant to always be at peace with others. This is how he put it. Do you think that I...
In Hope You Have Been Saved: Suffering and Realistic Eschatology
I spoke with a friend last week, a man who has shown godly perseverance through a lot of health problems. But now he’s facing a new problem: his kids are suffering chronic pain. This has been tough on his family, he admitted to me, and tough...
The Hard Road is Where You’ll Find the Lord
Recently, there has been a lot of construction downtown where I live. Cones, dusty white rock, makeshift fences and lots of expensive equipment have lined the streets for months. This makes it difficult to drive near the downtown square, very difficult actually, because most of the...
Bearing with the Failings of the Weak
A confident man once invited the most inexperienced person in the church out for evangelism at a local park. On the drive over, they prayed and strategized a few conversation starters. The inexperienced member remained a bit fuzzy on what passages of Scripture to reference, and...
The Friendships You Can’t Keep
Yes, friends you have are SO important . . . and your family. But what about the friendships you can’t seem to keep? First, make sure you are not the problem. I once knew a couple who owned a bookstore. You had to walk between them...
The Lot of Man vs. The Legacy of Christ
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting...
Talk about Others the Way You Want Others to Talk about You
A friend and her husband recently told me the story of how they met and married. One day, sometime before they moved into a serious relationship, he called her about something completely unrelated. The phone picked up, but he soon realized that it had answered by...
Overcoming Self-Consciousness
Self-consciousness is a destroyer of authentic Christian experience. We’ve all been singing in church when all of a sudden the thought races by: “Look at me here singing. I’m enjoying this.” And from that moment on your joy in singing is somehow less real than it...
