The Reality of Our Present World

I suffer from a disease called chronic disappointment disorder, or CDD. It’s not a real disease; don’t ask your doctor about it. It may be fake, but it affects me—and my celebration of Christmas—in a very real way. For most of my life, the sting of disappointment accompanied every holiday. I felt let down when quarreling children ruined my serene Christmas morning. My spirit deflated when my pumpkin pie looked more like a science fair project. I…

Christians have been told over and over that God is almighty. And indeed he is—the God of four hundred billion billion suns. We have been told he is also sovereign. And indeed he is. Perhaps out of respect, we have adopted the notion that if he is going to act, he is going to act quickly. Bam. Zap. (If we are honest, I think we adopted that perspective because it also relieves us of strenuous prayer.) But is this what we see in so many of these biblical accounts?,…

The devil no doubt has a place in our theology, but is he a category we even think about in the daily events of our lives? Has it ever crossed your mind that not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you? We are being lied to all the time. Yet we never stop to say, "Wait a minute ... who else is speaking here? Where are those ideas coming from? Where are those feelings coming from?" If you read the saints from every age before the Modern Era—that pride…

The world is extremely divided. God is allowing things to happen that challenge the strongest in the Faith. Opportunities abound for us to lose hope in a way that God never intended. What is at the heart of it all? I posted on this subject in a Podcast and one of our daily memos written by Francis Chan. This is how he profiled the lukewarm Christian. Someone who attends church regularly, but it’s what's expected of them. They believe good Christians should do so.…

And they lived happily ever after. Stop for just a moment, and let it be true. They lived happily ever after. These may be the most beautiful and haunting words in the entire library of mankind. Why does the end of a great story leave us with a lump in our throats and an ache in our hearts? If we haven't become entirely cynical, some of the best endings can even bring us to tears. Because God has set eternity in our hearts. Every story we tell is our attempt to put…

Have you ever considered inadequacy a blessing? Life is filled with struggles that reveal our insufficiency, and it arouses uncomfortable emotions that make us feel useless, insignificant, and weak. No one likes the frustration and fear of facing challenges that are too big to handle, but God can use them for our good. Our job is to acknowledge our helplessness, depend on His strength, and step out with confidence in Him. Inadequacy can be a blessing since it ... Drives us…

Think back to a time when you were passionate about pursuing something—a job, a cause, or even a relationship. Once you finally attained the object of your desire, was it everything you imagined? Or did it lose its luster over time, perhaps even becoming a problem in your life? That’s what happens when our focus is on temporal things rather than eternal ones. It’s the reason Paul wrote, “Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking…

We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. HEBREWS 4:15 Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord.…

Every age has a certain spirit or mood or climate to it. Ours is busyness. We’re all running like lemmings from sunup to way past sundown. What’s with all the energy drinks? There must be dozens now. RocketFuel. CrankYouUp. Not to mention the coffeehouses on every corner. Why do we need all this caffeine? And why do so many of us now need sleep aids to rest at night? Our grandparents didn’t. We thought the age of technology would make life simpler, easier.…