The Memoirs of a Bullied Kid
If you’re being bullied, I would like to say that I could understand your pain to some degree. But I would also like to apologize on behalf of those who tormented you. You see, I was both a bully and a victim. An awkward kid while growing up—I was overweight, […]
Two Men
Two men were killed in our city on the same day. The first, a police officer, was shot down while trying to help a family. The other was a homeless man who was shot while drinking with friends early that day.
All Spruced Up
Getting our children to look good for church was always a challenge. Ten minutes after arriving at church all spruced up, our little Matthew would look like he didn’t have parents. I’d see him running down the hall with his shirt half untucked, glasses cockeyed, shoes scuffed up, and cookie crumbs decorating his clothes. Left to himself, he was a mess.
I wonder if that is how we look sometimes.
Heavenly Perspective
Fanny Crosby lost her sight as an infant. Yet, amazingly, she went on to become one of the most well-known lyricists of Christian hymns. During her long life, she wrote over 9,000 hymns. Among them are such enduring favorites as “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory.”
Jesus’ illustration of two builders and the two very different houses they built
As a follower of Christ, you’re choosing to build your life upon God’s Word. And that likely means your life looks a little different from those who don’t follow the Lord. Take a seat at the study table.
With(out) Meaning and Purpose
By Sheryl Tay, Singapore “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless” ’ (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 NIV) . Like the Teacher, I’m sure that we, at some point in time, have found life meaningless too. We have tried to make sense of the way this world works, and have tried to find purpose in […]
Let’s look to Jesus for the blueprints on building a firm foundation for life
There are many things to build our lives around. But when the storms rage, will what we’ve built stand, or collapse? Another practical discussion.
The Little Tent
During evangelist Billy Graham’s historic 1949 Los Angeles campaign, the big tent that held over 6,000 people was filled to overflowing every night for 8 weeks. Close by was a smaller tent set aside for counseling and prayer. Cliff Barrows, longtime music director and close friend and associate of Graham, has often said that the real work of the gospel took place in “the little tent,” where people gathered on their knees to pray before and during every evangelistic service. A local Los Angeles woman, Pearl Goode, was the heart of those prayer meetings and many that followed.
Food In The Cupboard
My friend Marcia, the director of the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, recently illustrated an important way to look at things. In a newsletter article she titled “A Blessed Start,” she pointed out that for the first time in 7 years the school began the new year with a surplus. And what was that surplus? A thousand dollars in the bank? No. Enough school supplies for the year? No. It was simply this: A month’s supply of food in the cupboard.
The ideal way to wrap up any message!
A good preacher knows that you need a good start to a sermon, and a strong finish as well! Let's study how Jesus concluded His Sermon on the Mount.
Certainty in Uncertainty
If you had asked me a year ago what I would be doing in the present day, I would probably shrug my shoulders and give you an ambiguous answer, something along the lines of “Oh, I’d just go along with the flow.” And there’s a high chance I wouldn’t believe […]
Sweet Rest
Try as we might—tossing, turning, fluffing the pillow, pounding the pillow—sometimes we just can’t fall asleep. After offering some good suggestions on how to get a better night’s sleep, a news article concluded that there really is no “right way” to sleep.
There are numerous reasons why sleep eludes us, many of which we can’t do much about. But sometimes unwanted wakefulness is caused by anxious thoughts, worry, or guilt. It’s then that the example of
Taking a thoughtful look at the different paths set before us, and how to choose the right one
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus urged His followers to “enter through the narrow gate.” But what does that mean? A revealing look at Jesus’ meaningful metaphor from Matthew 7.
Much More Than Survival
In April 1937, Mussolini’s invading armies forced all the missionaries serving in the Wallamo region to flee Ethiopia. They left behind just 48 Christian converts, who had little more than the gospel of Mark to feed their growth. Few even knew how to read. But when the missionaries returned 4 years later, the church had not just survived; it numbered 10,000!
