Worry & Anger
There’s a children’s song that goes, “Don’t you worry and don’t you fret, you know God has never failed you yet.” The same God who delivered the Israelites out of slavery can be trusted to go ahead of us—never failing or abandoning His children (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Solution to Scorn
In his article “The Price of Public Shaming in the Internet Age,” Todd Leopold asks, “Do you believe in forgiveness? Do you believe in second chances? Of course you do. Everybody makes mistakes. To err is human, to forgive divine. Right? Not in the age of social media.”
Pleasing God
I was thinking about some friends who are facing trials. Jake is about to lose his job because he won’t compromise his convictions. Sheryl has been unemployed and soon her government assistance will run out. Sam had surgery to fuse together two vertebrae in his spine, but now he’s feeling numbness on his right side.
Like New
When our washing machine malfunctioned, it spewed water through a heating vent and into our basement—drenching wallboard and carpeting. To prevent mold, we had to hire a company that set up special fans inside our house. The company’s motto read: “We will make it like new.”
Dark Secrets
Do you have a dark secret that you’ve kept from others? Maybe you did something you think is so bad that if people found out about it they would have nothing to do with you. Perhaps you’re hooked on watching porn or you struggle with substance abuse. Maybe you’re carrying deep hatred for someone who hurt you.
spiritual self-examination
Yed Anikpo created an app called Heartpoints to help Christians track their spiritual progress. Users of the app can review their daily history to rejoice over victories and to repent of sins. According to Anikpo, “Heartpoints [can] help us capture [what] makes up our walk today so that we can examine it and use [it] to inform . . . our pilgrimage tomorrow.”
a surfer’s heart
The film Noah’s Arc: The Noah Snyder Documentary tells the story of Noah Snyder and his unique journey from growing up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to establishing a professional surfing career. As my son and I watched it, we were moved by both the stellar surfing and the deep truths found in the story. It was inspiring to see Noah and several of his childhood friends mature from mere thrill-seekers to young men embracing purpose, responsibility, and a relationship with God.
confession
While visiting a friend in Marseille, France, we stopped by an old church. I took in the cold stone floors, the magnificent ancient walls, and the smell of the musty wooden pews. Almost hidden from my view, built into a wall, was the confessional box. It contained enough for just one person on either side of a wooden slat. My friend quietly commented that the act of confessing our sins one to another seemed to have disappeared from many modern churches. This challenged me not only to confess my sin to God but also to others.
you choose Q: what can i do about my sin?
Q: I always try to run away from sin, and when I think I've gotten away, it comes back. After I commit the sin, I feel as if I should be punished for my sin. Other times, I feel so bad that I think that God is disappointed, and I'm too embarrassed to tell anyone of my sin, what do…
what kind of sorrow?
In the wake of numerous public confessions by fallen politicians, sports figures, and business executives, Paul Wilkes references Susan Wise Bauer’s helpful distinction: “An apology is an expression of regret: I am sorry. A confession is an admission of fault: I am sorry because I did wrong. I sinned.” Wilkes goes on: “Apology addresses an audience. Confession implies an inner change . . . that will be manifested in outward action.”
cover-up
Historians weren’t sure if Reformer Huldrych Zwingli had been sexually promiscuous with the daughter of a prominent citizen. Misbehaving priests weren’t uncommon in the 16th century, yet such gossip seemed like something his Roman Catholic enemies might spread to discredit Zwingli.
holy living
“Our Father in heaven,” Jesus taught us to pray, “may Your name be kept holy” (Matthew 6:9). We affirm today that Your name, Yahweh, already is holy because it describes You—pure, perfect, far removed from evil, error, and corruption.
where are you looking?
Saulo was 16 when he drove the getaway car for a robbery that ended in murder. Now 32, Saulo says, “I remember sitting in the county jail, and it really sunk in: ‘Wow, I’m not going home,’ and [I] realized what I did. I didn’t want to live. I couldn’t believe what I did.”
titanic 101
When the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, evangelist John Harper was among the 1,522 people who died. After putting his 6-year-old daughter on a lifeboat, John ran throughout the ship and warned others about the eternal destiny of their souls. When he finally had to jump into the icy water, he clung to a piece of wreckage and asked another man, “Are you saved?” When the man answered, “No,” John said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). This man was the last convert of John Harper.
