Controversies In Church: It’s Not About What We Say
Is it okay to pray for a miracle healing? Can we speak in tongues? Can a woman preach at the pulpit? Should the church support anti-homosexual laws? What’s the church’s stand on abortion? What should we do with an errant pastor? Is there a “correct” version of the Bible? Can we play the drums in worship? Should Christians drink alcohol?
Where Is Peace?
“Do you still hope for peace?” a journalist asked Bob Dylan in 1984.
“There is not going to be any peace,” Dylan replied. His response drew criticism, yet there’s no denying that peace remains ever elusive.
About 600 years before Christ, most prophets were predicting peace. God’s prophet wasn’t one of them. Jeremiah reminded the people that God had said, “Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23). Yet they repeatedly ignored the Lord and His commands. Their false prophets said, “Peace, peace” (8:11), but Jeremiah predicted disaster. Jerusalem fell in 586 bc.
Peace is…
Don and Judy love to travel. Whether it’s a cruise on the Baltic Sea or a road trip to discover tucked-away surprises, they relish the adventure and each other. They’ve been married three years, and the roadmap which led to the intersection of their individual paths is filled with unusual twists and turns.
Each had been married before. Don’s first wife of 48 years, Peggy, had a life-debilitating disease which caused extreme hardships and eventually ended with her death. Judy’s first husband, Elwin, was murdered shortly after their silver wedding anniversary. Through each of their life trials, Don and Judy…
Eugene Peterson: A Life Dedicated To Engaging With Scripture
When I first read that Eugene Peterson had just days left to live, I had mixed emotions. I was happy for him that he would soon be in the presence of Jesus, and yet, I also felt sad, because we were about to lose a great champion of the faith.
God Gives The Gift Of Knowledge And Understanding
You can pore over the pages of Scripture. You can read all of the footnotes and commentaries. But at the end of the day, only God can give the gift of true knowledge and understanding. Today on Discover the Word, we’ll explore how our prayers will be answered when we ask to be “enlightened” by […]
The Proper Perspective
Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ… —2 Corinthians 2:14
The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a…
Impossible to Hold
Swimming with friends in the Gulf of Mexico, Caitlyn encountered a shark, which grabbed her legs and pulled at her body. To counter the attack, Caitlyn punched the shark in the nose. The predator unclenched its jaws and swam away in defeat. Although its bite caused multiple wounds, which required over 100 stitches, the shark was unable to keep Caitlyn in its grasp.
This story reminds me of the fact that Jesus delivered a blow to death, ending its power to intimidate and defeat His followers. According to Peter, “It was impossible for death to keep its hold on [Jesus]” (Acts…
Nothing of the Old Life!
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17
Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We…
How To Know God Through Scripture
You might get to know a person by spending time with them, talking with them, or sharing a meal. But how do you get to know the holy and infinite God of the universe? Today on Discover the Word, we will discuss how to know God through what He reveals to us in Scripture. Join […]
Choosing the Trail
I have a beautiful autumn photograph of a young man on horseback in the Colorado mountains as he contemplates which trail ahead to follow. It reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” In it, Frost ponders two pathways that lie before him. Both are equally inviting, but he doubts he will return to this place again, and he must choose one. Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
In Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), the Lord told His listeners, “Enter…
Being Filled With The Fullness Of God
Perhaps you’ve experienced moments in life that were filled with emotion, with joy, with sadness, with excitement, with fear. But have you ever been filled with the fullness of God? Today on Discover the Word, the team begins a new study in the book of Ephesians about the effect of our praying two prayers Paul […]
The Witness of the Spirit
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit… —Romans 8:16
We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him— we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.
Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but…
4 Ways Your Pastor Might Be Struggling More Than You Think
When news broke on the suicide of Pastor Andrew Stoecklein from Inland Hills Church, California, a concerned friend sent me a message to appreciate my work and to find out how I was doing. It was a nice gesture triggered by a sense of shock that was shared by many others in the world. How could it be that a pastor who seemed to “have it all together,” was so overwhelmed by the pressures of pastoral ministry and personal struggles that he took his own life?
Treasure in a Pumpkin
As a young mother, I was determined to document my daughter’s first year of life. Each month, I took photos of her to illustrate how she had changed and grown. In one of my favorite pictures, she is gleefully sitting in the belly of a hollowed-out pumpkin I purchased from a local farmer. There she sat, the delight of my heart, contained in an overgrown squash. The pumpkin withered in the ensuing weeks, but my daughter continued to grow and thrive.
The way Paul describes knowing the truth of who Jesus is reminds me of that photo. He likens the knowledge…
