The Reality of Our Present World

A few days ago I'm driving along one of my favorite back roads, alongside a creek, on my way to work out. I notice a school bus approaching at about two miles per hour, without its warning lights on. The driver in front of me is clearly perplexed and brakes, and I see a line of six cars behind the bus. Finally, I see the cause: About 20 wild turkeys are meandering along on both sides of the road, eventually crossing from my left to my right. Turkeys cross only in…

Our culture desperately tries to postpone death. Yet vitamins, exercise, and healthy diets will eventually prove futile because, as James 4:14 says, our life is “a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.” We’ll all die, but believers have no reason to fear. In fact, the apostle Paul assures us that, far from being a dreadful change, physical death actually leads believers home to be with the Lord forever (2 Cor. 5:8). Ultimately,…

The Religious Spirit has turned discipleship into a soul-killing exercise of principles. Most folks don’t even know they can walk with God, hear his voice. He’s stigmatized counseling as a profession for sick patients, and so the wounds of our hearts never get healed. He’s taken healing away from us almost entirely, so that we sit in pews as broken people feeling guilty because we can’t live the life we’re supposed to live. And he takes warfare…

If you’re like me, looking ahead to next year and what may be on the horizon seems a bit overwhelming. A whole lotta trepidation. What do I mean by that? Well, let me see. An ongoing worldwide pandemic, job security, heating bills, the cost of gas, inflation in prices of almost everything I buy, supply chain problems (if you need something you can’t find), being isolated again (maybe), going back to the office, shortage of help in my business, school for me or…

Walk into any large mall, museum, amusement park, university, or hospital, and you will typically meet at once a very large map with the famous red star and the encouraging words "You are here". These maps are offered to visitors as ways to orient themselves to their situation, get some perspective on things. This is the Big Picture. This is where you are in that picture. Hopefully you now know where to go. You have your bearings. Oh, that we had something like…

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly,” the well-known carol begins. And so we do. Some of us prepare for Christmas at the first hint of cold weather, while others postpone the inevitable as long as possible. But at some point we all get caught in a vortex of activity—most of it fun and festive but exhausting nonetheless, leaving our souls feeling both stuffed and empty. Often, it’s in the midst of this hubbub of holiday cheer that we quietly wonder, &ldquo…

Scripture says that we are to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). That means we’re unable to know what’s ahead but can trust the God who does. Abraham is a prime example, and we should follow in his steps. When called to leave his country and family to go to a land God would show him, Abraham obeyed. Hebrews 11:8 adds, “He left, not knowing where he was going.” That’s basically a summation of the Christian life. Each day we face the,…

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, He’s so lucky or Her life is so easy? In reality, no one has a problem-free existence. Scripture describes life’s trials as universal—we all face times of trouble. James 1:2 is a small verse, but it contains tremendous insight about our trials. First, it is significant that James uses the word “when.” Undergoing trials is a matter of when rather than if. Second, James says we’ll “encounter;…

The world is full of people with broken hearts, broken spirits, and broken relationships. The pain of a broken relationship includes a very real sense of personal loss, not unlike bereavement. Sometimes the hurt is so great it prevents people from functioning properly and, in extreme cases, can result in mental breakdown or even a desire to commit suicide. The world puts forward various ways to assuage the pain: taking antidepressants, writing an angry letter and tearing it,…