Christmas is just around the corner. Despite the holiday-themed TV ads that began in early November and the radio stations that started playing Christmas music around the same time, it’s possible you may have missed it. As a friend of mine observed, “Christmas seems to come earlier every year.” If the crass commercialization of the […]
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” – Psalm 116:15 (ESV) As I have written, we lost my mother-in-law, Carolyn, in early October following a tragic accident on a Florida bridge. Because her husband, Jack, was still in critical condition, we decided to postpone Carolyn’s funeral until Jack had […]
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of […]
“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” – Psalm 103:13-14 (ESV) In part I, I told how I recommended to a friend that he read the Old Testament story of Joseph, and how […]
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (ESV) Today, I want to tell you a story that contains another story. A young friend of mine texted and asked me to recommend some Bible verses to encourage […]
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” – M. K. Gandhi If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know I’ve been discussing the book Roy H. Williams’ and Michael Drew’s book Pendulum, and its theme of history’s unfolding in alternating cycles of emphasis — from Me to […]
Men: We have to talk about sex. If there’s one area where this generation is stuck, this is it. The Water Was Dirty Before You Got In Now, before you conclude that I’m pointing my finger at you, please realize that the Boomer cohort gave us the sexual revolution and rampant divorce, and the Gen X cohort […]
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” – Jesus in Mark 11:25 (NIV) I had the privilege recently of interviewing my friend, Gentry Eddings, Worship Pastor of Forest Hill Church’s Ballantyne Campus, and soon Campus Pastor for that […]
“The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” -Mark Twain Perhaps you’ve heard or read a news item on the findings of a new report on religion in America published by the Pew Research Center. The link to America’s Changing Religious Landscape appears here. The main point reported is that the number of Americans […]
In the news recently, I learned about a grandmother in Brazil who thought she was praying before a statue of St. Anthony, when she was actually praying to Lord of the Rings action figure — Elrond to be exact. We can debate the merits/demerits of praying to saints (I have never found it necessary), but […]
