Category: Life Issues
Under the Sun: Joy, not Gain
In an attempt to regain some of what has long been lost in my very average brain, I’ve been slowly reading a book about American history. I have learned this: It is much more interesting now than when I was in high school! Something that I...
Judge Pyncheon in the Chair: Death with Eyes Open
“This was to have been such a busy day!” Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, the antagonist in The House of Seven Gables, died with his eyes wide open while sitting in a chair. This striking event filling one entire chapter in the classic by Nathaniel Hawthorne surprises the...
Remember
The first three chapters of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians contain only one imperative—that is, he only asks them to do one thing: remember. Other than that single instruction, mentioned in 2:11 and then repeated in 2:12, the first half of the letter is Paul’s list...
The Endless, Downward Spiral of Harbored Hurt
“A man of great anger will bear the penalty, for if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again.” (Proverbs 19:19) I lived for many years beside a very, very bitter man. The slightest issue would set him off. If any neighbor children’s...
Living Like Lula: Making Friends with Unrighteous Wealth
We always honked on the final turn as we left Fordyce, my birthplace, for Warren, Arkansas, my mother’s birthplace. “Miss Lula” lived in the neat little White House there—Miss Lula, “the giver.” She earned this reputation because of her lifelong generosity. That’s the way I’ll always...
Commanding the Ravens: God’s Unexpected Provision
If we’re honest, our view of God’s provision for us is pretty narrow. Following typical western assumptions, we think that if we work hard at a good job, or any job, we will see a good return and be provided for. That’s how God does it—through...
So Far as It Depends on You
The words in my title are from the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:18. They are found in between the words “If possible” and “live peaceably with all.” Here’s the full sentence: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” This instruction...
Caleb: Encouragement for Senior Citizens
Now therefore give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day. And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance (Joshua 14:12-13). Does God love his children when they become old? Must Christians who have served...
Shine as Lights in the World
At one point in Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi, he reminds them that they are to show themselves to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in...
When Your Pastor Thinks He’s Brother Molehill
It might surprise you to know that many pastors who have generous smiles on their faces each Sunday are, deep down, very disheartened. Pastoring a church is difficult work. For one thing, it is usually thankless. I know there are some churches that seem to remember...
