Topic > Christian Living
Careless Words
My daughter has had a lot of ill health recently, and her husband has been wonderfully caring and supportive. “You have a real treasure there!” I said.
“You didn’t think that when I first knew him,” she said with a grin.
She was quite right. When Icilda and Philip got engaged, I was concerned. They were such different personalities. We have a large and noisy family, and Philip is more reserved. And I had shared my misgivings with my daughter quite bluntly.
I was horrified to realize that the critical things I said so casually 15 years ago had stayed in her memory…
Honoring God
The church service was still in progress, and we had some visitors there that morning. The speaker was only halfway through his sermon when I noticed one of our visitors walking out. I was curious and concerned, so I walked out to talk with her.
“You’re leaving so soon,” I said, approaching her. “Is there a problem I can help with?” She was frank and forthright. “Yes,” she said, “my problem is that sermon! I don’t accept what the preacher is saying.” He had said that no matter what we accomplish in life, the credit and praise belong to God. “At…
3 Ways To Stop Self Pity
I threw a pity party recently. It all began a few days before Christmas, when my dad suffered a stroke and had to be hospitalized.
A 7 Year Wait for God’s Answer
My parents separated when I turned seven. It did not occur to me, however, that a broken family was not the norm; in any case, I never hated my life. My maternal grandmother, who brought me up, was a fervent Christian who taught me to pray before I went to bed.
Real People, Real God
Several years ago I received a letter from an Our Daily Bread reader after I had written about a family tragedy. “When you told about your tragedy,” this person wrote, “I realized that the writers were real people with real problems.” How true that is! I look across the list of men and women who pen these articles, and I see cancer and wayward children and unfulfilled dreams and many other kinds of loss. We are indeed just regular, real people writing about a real God who understands our real problems.
The apostle Paul stands out in the Real People Hall of…
Minister of Reconciliation
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached on a Sunday morning in 1957, he fought the temptation to retaliate against a society steeped in racism.
“How do you go about loving your enemies?” he asked the Dexter Avenue Baptist congregation in Montgomery, Alabama. “Begin with yourself. . . . When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it.”
Quoting from the words of Jesus, King said: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you .…
A Hint of Heaven
The world-class botanical garden across the street from our church was the setting for an all-church community gathering. As I walked around the gardens greeting people I have known for years, catching up with those I hadn’t seen recently, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings cared for by people who know and love plants, I realized that the evening was rich with symbols of how the church is supposed to function—a little hint of heaven on earth.
A garden is a place where each plant is placed in an environment in which it will thrive. Gardeners prepare the soil, protect the plants…
A Letter of Condolence to the US$1.6 billion Lottery Winner
Dear Lottery Winner, Having just heard of your winning the record-breaking US$1.6-billion Powerball lottery jackpot in US last week, I would like to offer you my deepest condolences.
How To Break Up Your Marriage (to Work)
“Faith! Join us after service today for lunch . . . Don’t tell me you’re working on a Sunday again . . . you’re always working!” Unfortunately, it was true.
What Following God’s will is NOT
Unlike many of my peers who submitted countless applications to various employers even before they graduated, I had only intended to send out a single resume. I was so set on pursuing a specific career in educational therapy that I could join only one organization that I believed could enable me to do this.
