Practical Help from 2 Corinthians 4:7–18 As a child, I well remember the sound of a whistle blowing to indicate that dinner was almost ready. It was the release valve on one of my mom’s favorite cooking utensils, her pressure cooker. Pressure under controlled circumstances produces greater effectiveness and productivity, making water do what it…
In his blisteringly skeptical book, The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins gives his view of the God of the Old Testament: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal,…
I struggle sometimes to get a lot from the Puritans. They wrote centuries ago when the English language was very different than from how we speak and write today. But that doesn’t I mean I don’t enjoy a good Puritan quote! And the Puritans had a lot to say about work. The Puritans had a…
We can’t do this. We cannot defend ourselves let alone our God against the wickedness around us. Evil has risen up everywhere. Injustice rises in the false guise of justice. Satan is on the attack. The freedoms of God’s people are taken away daily. In various corners of the world, believers are martyred daily and…
Jesus told His followers, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). When you read the book of Acts, it is very…
Recently I attended a concert of the Hangzhou Symphony Orchestra. A violin concerto called “The Butterfly Lovers” was a part of the program. My youngest daughter, who knows about such things, told me that the piece was quite controversial, having been composed during the Cultural Revolution, which rejected all things Western. To my ears, the…
2 Samuel 15:31 Two hundred men of Issachar were among those who followed David when he fled from murderous King Saul. About these men, 1 Chronicles 12:32 says, “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do;” In this urgent hour in…
Planted in Weakness Christianity has enjoyed a position of strength in Western society for a long time. The church once commanded kings, encompassed nations, and dominated the world. But things were not always this way. Before the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Byzantine Empire through the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., Christianity was…
The Sonoran desert is home to millions of Gambel’s quail. I grew up around these beautiful and fascinating little birds. They live in coveys and desire above all things to be together. When I (a perceived danger) flush a covey, I have found that if I sit down and wait for about 10 minutes the…
Today I visited my mom, who happens to be 96 this year. Over the last few months, her world is shrinking. She used to get around by herself, with the aid of a walker, and some help from time to time from family members. Something happened a little while ago through which she lost much…