In Chapter 1 (“Trust at My Doorstep”) of Fear Not Tomorrow, God is Already There, author Ruth Graham discusses the question most people ask when adversity hits-“Why, God?” When we ask this question, Ruth notes, we’re expressing our deepest emotions, hurt and disappointment to God. Although God already knows what we’re feeling, we need to […]
In Chapter 4 (“Woe, Be Gone”) of Fearless, Max Lucado tells the story of a friend’s 6 year old daughter rushing to get dressed for school. In her hurry, she tied her shoelaces in a knot. With the school bus coming and the clock ticking, her thoughts were so focused on untangling the knot in […]
Ron Carpenter Jr. begins Part 5 of The Necessity of an Enemy by discussing what he terms ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that the enemy uses to sabotage God’s purpose for our life. Unlike more devastating forms of adversity that show up as Goliaths, Ron notes that these weapons “. . . tend to be unobtrusive. […]
When moving into a new home, the major task ahead is unpacking all the boxes and settling in. Similarly, when the gorilla (unforgiveness) moves into our hearts, Brian Jones (Getting Rid of the Gorilla) tells us the first thing the gorilla unpacks is anxiety. Pastor Jones goes on to explain: “Anxiety masks the real issues […]
In Chapter 7 (“Call”) of Getting Rid of the Gorilla, Brian Jones states that he prefers the word disciple to the word Christian because the word disciple tells what a follower of Christ does, while the word Christian designates to whom we belong. Furthermore, Pastor Jones believes that discipleship is the key to getting rid […]
Brian Jones opens Getting Rid of the Gorilla: Confessions on the Struggle to Forgive with this quote on forgiveness by C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity): “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” In other words, while we all know what Jesus said about forgiveness, it is quite another matter […]
Another common misperception implicit in the phrase “forgive and forget” is the notion that if we forgive we are in effect saying that the offense against us is of no consequence. Quite the contrary. Forgiveness is never a magic wand that turns something evil into something good. Dr. David Stoops (Forgiving the Unforgivable) comments on […]
‘Forgive and forget’- that phrase most likely has been part of our vocabulary since childhood, when our parents imprinted that instruction in our minds as the proper response to our conflict with another child. Actually, notes Dr. David Stoops (Forgiving the Unforgivable), that adage has been around approximately 700 years, since the 14th century. Jeremiah […]
Yesterday my wife Vicki and I were in Knox, Indiana to attend a graveside memorial service for our dear friend Rudy. Rudy and Vicki met when they were paired in a pie-eating contest at the beginning of their freshman year at Valparaiso University. In a precursor to Man vs. Food, they won the contest with […]
Max Lucado bases his book A Gentle Thunder: Hearing God Through the Storm on the gospel of John. In Chapter 4, “Miracle at Midnight”, Max comments on John 16: 16-21, when the disciples were in a boat rowing toward Capernaum and Jesus hadn’t yet joined them. Even though a storm was brewing, Jesus didn’t arrive […]
In Chapter 7 (“Have Barbed-Wire Discipline”) of When Life’s Not Working, Pastor Bob Merritt compares enormous and seemingly insurmountable problems that most of us face to a big ball of barbed-wire that sat in his back yard for 15 years. He asks: “What is it in your life that seems so over whelming that every […]
Number 13 of the Evergreen Park Boys Club Pirates positioned himself in deep center field. As the Oriole batter stepped into the batter’s box, #13 knew what was coming. Earlier in the day that batter, a neighbor across the street, had walked up and announced: “I’m going to hit the ball over your head tonight!” […]