The Bible offers strong warnings about the danger of “falling from grace”. But does that imply the possibility of losing the gift of salvation? This question has divided followers of Christ for centuries. Once again we are faced with a subject that seems to offer Scriptures in tension. One side can quote our Lord’s words, […]
One way to break down someone’s faith may be to quote Jesus’ promise that… the Father in heaven will give us any thing we ask in Jesus name (John 16:23). Many of us have discovered the hard way that ending our prayers “in the name of Jesus” doesn’t necessarily make a difference in whether we […]
Am sitting in a coffee shop after our return from Jerusalem… looking through the early morning darkness at an American flag hanging at half mast. Wondering whether the lowered colors are for losses of our own soldiers or for the suffering people of Haiti… My thoughts go to faces of those I had a chance […]
On arriving in the Middle East my cab driver said that he used to be on “the left.” But said he had come to the conclusion that Arab and Jewish people would never be able to live together. Later an Israeli friend said, regarding peace, “The United States has been the savior of the world.” […]
May our God strengthen the hands of those who are going to the rescue, and may he lift to himself those who are calling out to him from the rubble. May the One who from his cross cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” be the eternal hope of those who now […]
Would God hold us accountable for something that He has not given us the ability to do? The people of Israel might have wondered as much when they heard Moses say, in his farewell address, “The LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear” (Deut 29:4 […]
More than a few times, I’ve been inspired by those who have learned the hard way to understand the meaning of sobriety. But what if we said together… OK, some of us get the thing about misusing alcohol, street drugs, or even prescription meds. Maybe it’s time to take our story to the next step… […]
On New Years Eve I watched a few hundred local runners brave frigid temperatures to take on a 4 mile course around our local Reeds Lake. They called it their Resolution Run. As we watched them warming up I wondered what “Resolution Run” meant for them. I say “them” because Di and I watched it […]
A television journalist makes a point of saying on each of his programs how many days it has been since a previous president declared the war over in Iraq. Today…with the arrival of 2010… our world knowingly or unknowingly calls attention to the number of years since the King of kings quietly entered our world […]
Every once in a while I find myself with thoughts that cause me to wonder if someone has been praying for me. Sometimes it’s waking up with a song that seems to have come out of nowhere. On other occasions, I find myself with an awareness of God’s goodness or presence that seems to have […]
