Category: Life Issues
Spiritual Adultery and the Grace to Be Restored
Are you sinning often but professing to love the Lord? Though the fruit of constant sin against God can indicate a lost condition, true believers can also sin in awful ways. James has a helpful word for us in James 4:4-10. On the one hand the...
Conversation: Make It Better for Christ
Good conversation went fugitive with the invasion of electronic media. Yet you long for it, and so do those in your circle of acquaintances. Believers in Christ ought to be excellent at it. Even our non-believing friends ought to leave us saying, “That was the best...
Older Each Day but Closer to Brand New
I’m thankful to God that I am in fairly good health and still physically active at age 60, but even so, things just don’t work like they used to. My eyesight, for example, as a 20-year-old, was 20/20, but by my mid-forties I needed prescription eyeglasses...
How a Christian Man Dies
Imagine someone moving across the country to be with you in his or her final days in order to show you how a follower of Jesus dies. That’s what happened to singer and author Michael Card. While a student in college, New Testament scholar William L....
Careless Conduct
I didn’t pay careful attention. We changed insurance carriers, and the new company denied my diabetes medicine that had been keeping my blood sugar levels in check. I temporarily switched to some “over-the-counter” insulin to use occasionally when my blood sugar spiked. But I was careless....
Two Men Worthy of Imitation
The NBA’s annual slam dunk contest was epic when I was a boy. It’s hard to imagine it getting better than the immense power of Dominique Wilkins versus the insane athleticism of Michael Jordan! They were spectacular examples for me. Of course, I don’t mean I...
What Insufferable Itches Have to Do With the Advance of the Gospel
When hard times come, what do people hear from your lips? Those who saw Paul in Rome under house arrest awaiting trial (see the end of Acts) probably didn’t think he was doing so well. After all, he was in chains! I can imagine the guards...
Strategic Hospitality (Without Grumbling, but Possibly With Eggs)
When I was a boy, we didn’t lock our house during the day, even if we left. Those were the “good ol’ days.” I’m sure security at my parents’ house has changed. We also had an if-you-show-up-we’ll-have-some-dessert-for-you policy. I’m positive that hasn’t changed. I’m thankful to...
Yes, Bear Burdens—But Must They Bear Mine?
I once met a man who had suffered a near fatal gunshot wound in the crossfire of others in downtown Chicago. He was paralyzed for the remainder of his life. His wife had to care for him every day and in every way. Yet, in the...
What to Do When You Are Just a Little Birdie in a Big, Bad World
If you’ve ever been in a minor car accident, you might have called a loved one and started off by saying, “Hey, everything’s okay; I’m not hurt. But I’ve been in a wreck.” David starts off Psalm 11 with “everything’s okay” type of language: “In the...
