Category: CHRISTIAN LIFE
Seven Laws of the Race
The motif of the Olympic race was dear to the Apostle Paul. Did he sit in the stands in Athens or Corinth? Perhaps so. Regardless, parallels between “the games” and the believer’s race in life were often on his mind. He (along with the author of...
Seven Causes, and Remedies, for Joylessness
Why are you not more joyful? Oh, I know. You are warm and friendly, even bubbly at times. You are always enthusiastic when singing with your church. You smile a lot. You even handle troubles and trials with a positive attitude. But why are you not...
Serious Bible Readers Are Not Serious Sinners
I’ll start by making a bold assertion: The true Christian who becomes absorbed in the study of God’s word, who spends the largest percentage of his otherwise unallocated time in serious, concentrated and thoughtful Bible reading, who orders his life around this pursuit and the behaviors...
Selected Proverbs Regarding the Tongue
10:11 – The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 10:18 – The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. 10:19 – When words are many, transgression is not...
Regarding Thursday: Comfort for Christians Facing Illness and Uncertainty About the Future
“Regarding Thursday,” I wrote to a friend, “please do not be worried.” She was a few days away from exploratory surgery which might reveal anything from a clean bill of health to cancer. In her email to me she had admitted her trepidation and asked for...
Reflections from a Week of Sickness
It was 3 a.m. and I was shivering. The problem? It was hot outside, and I was in a home without air conditioning. I was also far from my home because I was teaching at a church in another state for the weekend. As quietly as...
Pulling Up Stakes, Putting Down Tyrants
The apostle Paul speaks of our helplessness before the tyrant Sin. It reigns over our lives, he teaches in Romans 6. He speaks of it as a slavery that cannot be broken. If a man without Christ attempts, through sheer will power, to correct himself, he...
Preparing for the Funeral
My aged aunt suffered from a series of small strokes impairing her former elephantine memory. We cherish the story of the time she attended the funeral of her uncle William. On the way back the car passed the home of the deceased uncle. Her contemplative voice...
No Lay-up Shot: A Lesson from the Master
For some reason unknown to humankind, my older brother got to play golf on the distinguished Augusta National Golf Course, the course where perhaps the best tournament of the year is held—The Masters. It was there that the following life-shaping event took place. He was playing...
Nine Characteristics of Biblical Prayer
True prayer is not merely a matter of saying the right words. Biblical prayer is characterized and motivated by the right attitude-right thinking about the greatness of God, the beauty of Christ, and our own unworthiness and weakness. Ask yourself if your prayers are characterized by:...
