” ‘Some assembly required.’ Not the most welcome sentence, but an honest one.”- Max Lucado Max Lucado begins Chapter 4 (“I Need Help”) of Before Amen by observing that life comes as an unassembled gift. Therefore, rather than force the pieces of life to fit, take those pieces to Jesus. Mary, the mother of Jesus, took that […]
“Forget greatness; seek littleness. Trust more, strut less.”- Max Lucado Max Lucado begins Chapter 2 (“Father . . . Daddy”) of Before Amen by telling of the time his eldest daughter, Jenna, flubbed her piano piece at a recital. Midway through her piece, she forgot the next part. When her mental block broke, she completed […]
“During a season of blocked doors, we can grow frustrated.”- Max Lucado In Chapter 8 (“The Right Doors Open”) of More to Your Story, Pastor Max Lucado tells of a problem with Molly, the Lucado’s nine-year- old golden retriever. When Molly wants out of the house, she scratches the door. As a result, marks decorate […]
Waiting on God (Baker Books, 2015) Waiting on God: What to do when God does nothing is written by Wayne Stiles (DMin, Dallas Theological Seminary). Dr. Stiles currently serves as an executive vice president at Insight for Living Ministries. The Old Testament account of Joseph provides the framework for Wayne’s discussion of the most difficult […]
“The path of obedience always leads to the life we want because it always follows the big picture God sees.”- Wayne Stiles In Chapter 11 (“What You’ve Been Waiting For”) of Waiting on God, we wonder what we can do when the life God’s given us seems radically different from the life He’s promised us. Most people, […]
“When we focus on the here and now- and especially on all the pain life has handed us- the black hole of hopelessness sucks us in and surrounds us.”- Wayne Stiles In Chapter 10 (“The Hope of Dying with Unfulfilled Dreams”) of Waiting on God, Dr. Wayne Stiles writes that after a series of stabbing […]
“We can disregard most warning lights in our lives for a while. In fact, they can blink so often we come to see them as normal- and we ignore them. Then one day that area of our life shuts down . . .”- Dr. Wayne Stiles As Wayne Stiles concludes Chapter 7 of Waiting on […]
“Following God is not an escape from pain but a preparation through pain for a future made greater by it.”- Dr. Wayne Stiles Dr. Wayne Stiles concludes Chapter 7 of Waiting on God by emphasizing that God’s will for our lives rarely follows a smooth path. That’s because “when we refuse to trust and obey […]
“God’s goal for leading us, it seems, isn’t to take us somewhere as much as it is for us to follow.”- Dr. Wayne Stiles In Chapter 5 of Waiting on God, Wayne Stiles observes that on occasion our walk with God feels like we’re the butt of some juvenile prank. God points the direction. Then, […]
“Like Joseph, we find ourselves taken on compulsory journeys by God.”- Dr. Wayne Stiles “Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought Him from the Ishmaelites who had had brought him down there. The Lord was with Joseph . . […]
“The call of God is that we trust Him in the darkness as we trusted Him in the light. He has not changed, even though our circumstances have been painfully altered.”- Dr. Gary Chapman Gary Chapman begins Chapter 11 (“When You are Angry with God”) of Anger by observing that “Christians often experience anger toward […]
Mark Batterson begins Chapter 11 (“No Answer”) of The Circle Maker with the litmus test of trust: 1. Do you trust that God is for you even when He doesn’t give you what you asked for? 2. Do you trust that He has reasons beyond your reason? 3. Do you trust that His plan is […]