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Meekness—It Is More Than You Think
Ever since our church small group discussed meekness last week, I’ve been thinking about it—trying to make sense of it. It seems simple enough until you really pause and consider Jesus’ words. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Meekness isn’t something we talk much about. It’s often seen as being weak, timid, or passive—hardly qualities we want to possess. But take a second look, and you quickly discover meekness is much more. The biblical view of meekness is strength under control. It’s the middle ground; the place where we struggle to live. Most of us choose to either keep the peace at all costs.…
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The Main Event…Lessons Learned and Embraced from the Ark
Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have been Noah and his family on the Ark? Do you think it might have been a bit noisy? Perhaps a bit smelly, hot, dark, and uncomfortable? Living on the ark for months would have been an experience and a memory no one would forget. Yet only Noah and his family were chosen to experience God’s saving grace during the main event of judgement that God poured out upon the earth and mankind. Noah’s experience must have been an adventure of a lifetime. Last week my husband and I, along with our two grandsons, had the opportunity to visit…
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Imagine There’s No Lennon
“Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky…” I find the above one of the saddest thoughts ever put to music. Unfortunately this song has become the Humanist theme song. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and shutdown, a bunch of celebrities decided to sing this song acapella and share it with the world… for some reason. Why? It is a melancholy, hopeless song… at least on the surface. And John Lennon is dead. Imagine there is no heaven, no place where people finally find rest from a life of toil and struggle, pain and sorrow. Imagine there is nothing…
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Book Review: “The Rage Against God” by Peter Hitchens
“In the names of reason, science, and liberty they [have] proved, rather effectively, that good societies need God to survive and that when you have murdered him, starved him, silenced him, denied him to the children, and erased his festivals and memory, you have a gap that cannot indefinitely be filled by any human, nor anything made by human hands…. [Yet] A new and intolerant utopianism seeks to drive the remaining traces of Christianity from Europe and North America. This time, it does so mainly in the cause of personal liberation, born in the 1960s cultural revolution, and now inflamed into special rage by any suggestion that the sexual urge…
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Discernment for Our Time
“These are the numbers of the divisions of the armed troops who came to David in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, according to the word of the Lord….Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” 1 Chronicles 12:23, 32 (ESV) Truly we live in a day where believers should seek to be like the sons of Issachar – to understand the times and act accordingly. In this passage, the tribes of Israel are coming to David, to establish him as the rightful king of Israel. Saul’s reign was over and now the time had come for David,…
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“Christian cruelty in the face of Covid!” 5 ways to detect how the media messes with the truth
We are so used to fake news we usually simply sigh and move on. But every once in a while, the “news” is so egregious and the manipulation of the truth so blatant, that it’s worth sharpening our critical thinking to see exactly how logic and reason are being flayed and boiled in oil. Atlantic Monthly writers offer in-depth reporting that I often appreciate. But they jumped the shark when they published a piece by former evangelical Jonathan Merritt: Some of the Most Visible Christians in America Are Failing the Coronavirus Test: In place of love, they’re offering stark self-righteous judgment (April 23, 2020). Here is a simple summary of…
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Teaching Tip #4
God’s amazing grace is the heart of the Gospel message. From Genesis to Revelation grace weaves its way through every book of the Bible. Every time we see God act, we are viewing a glimpse of His amazing grace. What greater gift can we give our children than to guide them to accept God’s grace, let it empower them to overcome sinful habits, and teach them how to live out of the grace they have received becoming generous givers of grace. Grace giving or receiving does not come naturally to the human heart. Parents are inclined to teach better conduct by keeping and enforcing rules, rather than teaching a need…
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Six Words to Guide You in Difficult Adult Relationships
One day when I was analyzing a difficult adult relationship, a thought occurred to me, “I need to get rid of the ‘prove words’ concerning this relationship. These ‘prove words’ are adding fuel to this flagrant relationship.” I sensed I needed to be free of letting these six words rule this relationship. These six words are: Prove. Approve. Disapprove. Improve. Disprove. Reprove.[1] Prove.To test the worth or quality of. I needed to be free of having to prove to this person that I am worthy of her respect and honor. I can never prove myself to another. I already have approval of the One…
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The Clarity of Death
“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). My father died recently. He was always sharp, quick with a pun or a play on words, an accountant by trade who worked until he was seventy-seven years old. He was a student of the Bible for almost sixty years. He did a lot of reading, writing, and “sparring” (personal debating) over the years, quoting folks like Barnhouse and Spurgeon in the process. But dementia overtook him these last few years. He could no longer…
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Rebellion and Exponential Evil
“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world, and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly, and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, (for while…
