the canary
A friend of mine left his wife and three children. Although he knows better—he was a seminary professor—he continues to lie to his family and is filing for divorce. Another friend abuses her family. She wastes their grocery money on her own wants, and then swears and screams when their bank account runs dry. Both of these friends are behaving…
good fruit
My 12-year-old son’s teacher asked his class what age they would like to be. Most of his friends shared that they preferred the freedom that came with being older, but my son said he wanted to be 9 again because his classmates were kinder then and swore less. I winced a little for his end of innocence, and I pondered…
run for your life
I will probably never run a marathon. I know this because I ran a 5K race a few years ago, and I nearly passed out after the event. While the contestants ahead of me seemed to glide across the finish line, I approached it huffing and puffing, red- faced, and with burning lungs!
When Paul commands us to “run from…
online attention
If you’re reading this devo online, in a few minutes you might move on to other websites. As you do, pay attention to what grabs your attention. What pics or words prompt you to pause for a second look? What links do you click on, and why?
When Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6:22),…
covenant eyes
A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2006 revealed that children who watch media with high levels of sexual content tend to be more sexually promiscuous. Researchers studied 1,017 adolescents, ages 12 to 14, over a period of 2 years. During that time, the teenagers were tracked as they took in varying amounts of sexual content in…
not a hint
"You know, I’m really, really happy that I chose to sleep around while I was in my teens and twenties.” “Pornography has made my marriage so much better.” “Letting my lust run wild has really drawn me closer to God.”
Okay, I’ve never heard someone say anything even remotely close to these statements. After having counseled many individuals and couples…
even the women
The mothers in my neighborhood threw a party for the distinctive feature of the male anatomy—one of them even baked a cake in its shape and invited my wife over to see it. My wife politely declined, but the incident reminded us that we’re living in an increasingly pornographic world.
Sexual sin is always wrong, but it’s particularly troubling when…
even in the dark
Joining the rash of reality television shows in the United States, Dating in the Dark hit the airwaves last summer. Each week, three guys and three girls got together for a week of dates—in a darkened room. They all made the rounds, talking and sharing meals as couples. But they never actually saw what one another looked like. At the end…
