belief and obedience
Have you ever desperately wanted something from God? Did you ever make any promises to Him so that He would come through for you?
a love song
The lyrics of one of my favorite worship songs lifts up the idea of praising Jesus with all that I am. When I sing it, my focus is solely on my Savior who sacrificed His life that we might receive true life, completely on the One whose heart beats with passionate love for us. As I sing the beautiful chorus, it helps me express my deep, deep love for Jesus.
right with God
Theologians are debating what the apostle Paul meant when he said that “we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law” (Romans 3:28). Traditional Protestants follow Martin Luther’s insight that sinners like us can’t do enough good works to satisfy a holy God. We become right with God by putting our faith in Jesus. When we trust Christ, God our Father performs what Luther called the “joyous exchange,” placing the guilt of our sin upon Jesus and counting His righteousness as our own.
doing good things
My neighborhood in Uganda was relatively quiet until a businessman disrupted our peace by opening an outdoor bar across the street from my home. Now loud music blares the entire night, with the bar owner refusing to consider the residents he’s disturbing. He tells us that he’s a good man, and since he gives money to the poor people shouldn’t complain.
the ultimate question
Fred Meijer was one of the wealthiest men in the world. His Meijer stores were the first to combine food and general merchandise under one roof. When he died his fortune put him in select company. But he wore his wealth lightly, often dropping by his shops and revealing a kind heart as he greeted customers, passed out coupons for free ice cream and even bagged shopping.
theater for One
The book Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle tells the story of 10-year-old Phillip, a precocious youngster who constantly angles to get attention. One of the adult characters describes Phillip as “an obnoxious little show-off.” Phillip is loud and unruly and concocts elaborate (and gross) pranks. He acts particularly bad when guests are at his house, and he’s a terror at school.
Mrs.…
community
I went through a phase where I stopped going to church. I had no friends yet in the new city where I had moved and I simply didn’t want to walk into a church alone. The longer I put off taking steps to meet people and to get involved with the body of Christ in my new community, the more…
clean utensils
Have you ever been dining at a restaurant—sitting before a plate of appetizing, mouth watering food, when suddenly you discovered (to your horror) that your utensils were encrusted with food from a previous customer? Yuck! That plate of food suddenly didn’t appear to be so delicious after all. Upset, perhaps even angry, you probably expected a set of clean utensils,…
so close, yet so far
Tom Shadyac, the director of the films Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, and the Ace Ventura series, recently purchased an old downtown church building in my hometown. He converted it into a shelter for the homeless. When I asked him about his impulse to create The Haven, Tom recounted his college years in Charlottesville, Virginia and how he didn’t understand back…
active faith
"Did you know that?!” When my student responded with disbelief at what he had learned in researching his social justice project, my heart leaped with excitement. Teaching in a private prep school, I look for ways to help my students see beyond their somewhat sheltered world. My delight was short-lived, however, when he continued by saying that although he felt…
if tomorrow never comes
A heartbreaking story on the cover of the newspaper had everyone talking. A groom was found dead hours after his wedding dinner. One of his friends said: “He was a very cheerful person and had just gotten married. Nobody could believe he was dead just hours after celebrating his wedding.”
Life is truly uncertain. Everyone is just a heartbeat away…
giving to others
Rebekah Rushing who was a high-level assistant at Enron Corporation before it collapsed due to accounting fraud in 2001, demonstrated that ethics is much more than not doing wrong. She went beyond looking out for herself. Rushing, along with two former colleagues, set up a fund at a local bank to help other displaced workers. With $90 of her own…
cause celebs
A majority of today’s celebrities have a cause. Whether it’s cancer research, animal rights, human rights, global warming, or a myriad of other charitable undertakings, countless high-profile actors and professional athletes have sought to use their platform of popularity to evoke change.
Instead of considering the impetus behind these stars’ good deeds, however, let’s look at our motivation and the…
consumed
An Ethiopian farmer hid more than $12,000 in a haystack—which unfortunately was home to some hungry rodents. Just three weeks after he stashed the cash, he discovered that rats had chewed through almost one-third of his savings!
When I read about this farmer’s misfortune, I couldn’t help thinking back to Jesus’ words: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth” (Matthew…
what we wear
I once knew a guy who liked to say, “The clothes make the man.” He dressed impeccably and enjoyed strutting into meetings in his fine-tailored trappings. Sadly, his personal and professional life later unraveled—revealing a very tattered and torn character within.
In Revelation 19, we see two drastically different styles of dress. In preparation for the wedding of the Lamb,…
