groaning or grumbling?
Ravi and Prakash received layoff notices from their employer, an insurance company that was being downsized by its new owner. “Once again the little man gets squeezed,” sighed Prakash; “Is this the thanks I get for 15 years of loyal service?”
no fish story
Why is God so big on judgment? Perhaps a better question is: Why is God so patient with us?
peace work
As we bumped slowly down the rain-ravaged, two-track “road,” we inched past weathered dwellings where skittish chickens dodged barefoot children. Simple fences framed gardens that sprouted low-yield corn and tomatoes. Wiry farmers prodded lumbering carabao as they tilled larger fields.
shamed and disarmed
Hospital chaplain Matt Marino received a call to go to a patient’s room. He expected to find someone gravely ill, fearful, or clinging to life. Instead, he was surprised to find a “strikingly attractive 23-year-old sitting up cheerfully in the hospital bed, holding her infant daughter and chatting with family and friends.” Confused, Matt quietly asked the nurse why he had been called.
history’s steady tune
George Jellinek, former host of The Vocal Scene radio program, says “the history of a people is found in its songs.” Years ago, music was a crucial way for slaves in the US to recount their stories, and music was central to the way the Civil Rights movement retold its vision. If you want to know a culture or its people, you have to know the music they used to pass along their stories. This is how the people in ancient Israel used the Psalms—their stories and prayers helped them to remember God, particularly in the long years when God was silent.
meaning of life
"The meaning of your life is the meaning you give it,” writes philosopher A. C. Grayling in his book Thinking of Answers. He suggests trying to create meaning in our lives through the pursuit of relationships and goals, by developing our talents and interests, and through our hopes and desires. Grayling concludes that life itself is meaningless and the only meaning…
held
Our kids often come home excited to tell us the interesting things they’ve learned in school. So when our 9-year-old asked me if I knew how to balance a book at least an inch high off the counter on just a sheet of paper, I knew there had to be a logical explanation though I couldn’t envision it. Taking out…
bring it
In Isaiah 59 the prophet was bringing it! He was not holding back. All around him, he saw people who were not living in truth (Isaiah 59:15). There was a decided lack of justice and righteousness in his world.
Just like you and me, he longed for truth to save the day. Perhaps unlike us, however, he recognized that the way…
weary
I found him wearying. He incessantly “shared” stories of the personal wrongs done to him with anyone who would listen, and frankly, it had become a burden. So I started avoiding him. Yes, I know that’s not what Jesus would do. But it’s what I did.
I know others in far worse circumstances than he—yet they’re a delight to be…
are you prepared to die for what's right?
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NIV).
Do you see an injustice? Than have confidence in God and stand up to defeat it. I have many times. You know what; you might be surprised who will stand up with you.
One time in a tree planting camp, a foreman was treating rookies very bad.…
too big to fail
Jerry terHorst resigned as US Press Secretary when his friend President Gerald Ford pardoned disgraced former President Richard Nixon. He told Ford that he didn’t know how he could “credibly defend” the President’s decision to pardon Nixon when common citizens were being punished for conscientiously refusing to serve in the Vietnam War. For his part, President Ford did not want…
adrenaline for the soul
Using contemporary language, while attempting to capture the depth and vitality of the original words that moved and inspired early believers in Jesus, Eugene Peterson translated Hebrews 12:2-3 this way: Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where He was headed—that exhilarating…
comfort
Isaiah 40: 1 - 5, “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight…
judgment in God's court
There are always two sides of a coin. In their coverage, the media make it a point to seek both sides of an issue to be able to present balanced news. When a complainant files a charge against someone in any court or public office, the one being sued will be summoned to defend himself. Recently, the integrity of the…
