unshackled
Clad in bright yellow shirts, the women were hard to miss. Shackled and standing in line, some of the suspected prostitutes covered their faces with their hands. People who witnessed this spectacle of shame raged online, claiming that many women resort to prostitution to feed their families. The nation’s government responded by creating a new law to ban the practice…
today #3
Today . . .
is not yesterday.
Gone are my mistakes and missteps.
The moment to bless,
the opportunity to serve.
It is no more.
Today is not yesterday.
Erased from time is my pain,
Grudges only remain if I choose
to carry them.
Fallen chips from proud shoulders
remain where they lie.
Today is not yesterday.
I let go of regret.
I wave good-bye to guilt.
I will not put on my badge…
who am i
"'Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached Me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead My people Israel out of Egypt.' But Moses protested to God, 'Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel…
personal weaknesses
Last November, the news about Tiger Wood’s numerous extramarital affairs began to leak out. It became evident that the golfer with the squeaky clean image wasn’t so perfect after all. Since then, there has been a growing debate over whether or not the media has been too hard on Tiger. Some say he deserved to be publicly shamed. Others point…
face down
When my father died of cancer, the inevitable question in my heart was whether he would have lived if I had shown greater faith. I lived with significant guilt that his death was somehow my fault. Rather than bringing hope, every sermon I heard on healing was like salt on an open wound. I felt spiritually attacked and harassed whenever…
hagar mistake
A Christian friend of mine was desperate for marriage and tired of waiting for God to deliver. Finally, she entered into an intimate relationship with a man whose character and faith lacked nearly every requisite trait she’d once held dear. When the unhealthy romance finally ended, my friend felt dejected and humiliated. She looked back on the relationship with dismay,…
uncovered
I remember how nervous he was, how fearful. Our friend came in and sat on our couch. He had something to tell us, but he couldn’t get the words out. He carried a weight he had held alone, a burden he couldn’t hide anymore. The hiding had nearly buried him.
Most of us have something we try to hide, some…
maximum sentence
South Korean courts sentenced actress Ok So-ri to 8 months in jail for cheating on her husband. During court proceedings, So-ri fought to stay out of prison, claiming the 1953 law against adultery was an invasion of privacy. The courts upheld the law, but suspended her sentence for 2 years.
Even though most countries don’t recognize adultery as a criminal…
loving others
It was such a dilemma—whether or not to marry the man who had proposed to me—that I agonized over what to do for nearly a year. During that time, I read dozens of relationship books, sought advice from counselors and pastors, and listened to scores of married friends explain how they “just knew” when faced with the same decision.
Ultimately,…
the right time
I’ve known believers in Jesus who struggled with guilt for saying “no” to taking on a new responsibility in a church or a parachurch organization. Many of them felt that by not agreeing to do more, they were failing to “walk by faith.” Yet they are all people who possess good reasons for carefully selecting their priorities. Some of them…
precious marks
Maybe no one will notice. I turned the coffee table so that the flaw would be less visible to the members of our Bible study. Still, my friend Wendy spotted the little notches and I had to admit our son had cut his first teeth there earlier that week. She smiled and said, “Oh, now you’ll never be able to…
all the truth
In the 1930s, Spain endured a civil war when General Francisco Franco joined a coup to unseat Spain's leftist Popular Front. While 500,000 died in the conflict, another 114,000 simply "disappeared" in the first years of Franco's rule. When Franco died in 1975, no one was initially willing to investigate this dark history. After years of the victims' families pressing…
the untouchables
Yashwant Rao's life in Karnataka, India, included some personal vices that made him feel ashamed. Then a life-changing thing happened. Yashwant received Jesus as his Savior after a pastor in his village repeatedly and lovingly reached out to him.
Then God led this new believer to share his faith with the Dalits, or "untouchables," the lowest of the low in…
taking care of business
Some well-meaning residents of the Philippines tried to update standard procedure in the Catholic Church by text-messaging their confessions to church officials. In response, one church leader commented, "We are encouraging Catholics to confess their sins—but the confession has to be personal. . . . They should ask pardon with a contrite heart."
When it comes to 'fessing up, there's…
