Last night, I woke up thinking about something I had witnessed long ago that had disturbed my young faith. The years have stolen most of the details of that night from my memory, but the impactful aspect of the event still lingers. It was one of those moments when the simplicity of youth is confronted … Continue reading A Disturbance at the County Fair
He always said his heart was satisfied in Christ alone—that he needed nothing else. He even believed it was true until the Lord enrolled him in the school of contentment. It is easy to boast when things are good, but the believer must often be trained by many hardships to make contentment a reality. Our … Continue reading In the School of Contentment
If a Christian is facing an illness that will not go away and needs encouragement, the Lord healing the paralytic who was lowered through the roof in Mark 2:1-12 can touch our deepest wounds but not in the way many might think. When the man who could not move of his own volition was lowered … Continue reading Sin is Worse than Sickness
I know from experience that when faced with troublesome circumstances beyond our control, our natural reaction is to fear, but we must ask ourselves, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Have we forgotten our Father, and how many times he has delivered us? Yes, the storm is raging, but he can … Continue reading Why Are You So Afraid?
Many of our mundane moments go unnoticed, but we should pause to appreciate them occasionally because they will soon come to an end. I am sure this will sound strange to some of you, but I take pleasure in pulling out a chair and sitting next to a table or desk. The simpler, the better. … Continue reading Finding Joy in the Ordinary
Some of the most significant damage we inflict on our life together is caused by our efforts to create Christian community. If you asked 100 churchgoers to define “Christian community,” you would end up with 100 variations—many idealistic and unfeasible. Now, consider that many of those churchgoers expect their church to meet their expectations, and … Continue reading Does Your Church Lack Community? This Might Be the Problem.
To borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, every worldly pleasure you are pursuing is “doomed to final frustration.” These include sinful pleasures and lawful ones. One day, they will either fail to live up to your expectations, or death will come knocking on your door and steal them from your hands. This final frustration means … Continue reading Doomed to Final Frustration
We all struggle with sin, but we must remember that sin makes us foolish. It is never reasonable, and when we are in the throes of temptation, we often become ignorant. It is as if sin puts blinders on our eyes, causing us to forget what is important to us. These blinders are why, when … Continue reading 7 Things to Remember When Tempted to Sin
As she sat at her desk, the thought of her husband’s death stole the air from her lungs. She wanted to carry her weight, but gravity had multiplied seven times. She might as well have been physically ill, for the bodily fatigue was overwhelming. She barely had the strength to lift her arms to the … Continue reading In the Shadows of Grief: A Short Story
God is doing more in our hardships than we can possibly conceive. Imagine you come down with an illness, or maybe you do not need to imagine it because you are facing something like that right now. This malady is not a short illness; it is something long and troublesome, so you ask the Lord … Continue reading A Thousand Wheels of Providence
The Fight of Faith 