Posts from 2017 (Page 2)

Cup of cold water

Have you checked today’s headlines yet? Several college students got drunk and started a fight, two of everyone’s favorite celebrities filed for divorce, and the coach is “very excited” about the next game. “We hope to be competitive,” he said. There was a murder downtown, a meth lab exploded, and police are looking for a suspect in a string of convenience store robberies. A professional athlete feels disrespected and unappreciated by his $8 million-per-year offer, so he’ll probably ask to…

Afraid of God?

Should we be scared of God? The quick and easy answer is no, of course we shouldn’t. He’s a God of love, grace, and compassion. But that answer would be too quick and superficial. What are we supposed to do with passages like this one? Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,…

A Laughing God

I get mad when I hear that a shooter has inexplicably killed more than twenty innocent people. Again. In a church, no less. It’s becoming all-too-frequent: concerts, schools, churches, other public spaces. These atrocities remind us that evil pervades our world, and we’ve got to be careful that we don’t develop a jaded attitude. We might even lose confidence in the power and sovereignty of the God we serve. Listen to the psalmist: Why do the nations rage and the…

Spoiler Alert

I don’t like for someone to tell me how a movie ends before I watch it, and I’d never read the last chapter of a book before I’d read the rest. So I hope I’m not spoiling the end for you when I let you in on a Bible secret. We win. Big. Or maybe I should say, “God wins . . . so we do too.” He’s dropped some huge hints along the way . . . here’s one…

Are You Righteous?

The word righteous means “to act in a way that’s morally right and wise.” In James chapter 5, we read about the “prayer of a righteous person.” This prayer, James said, “has great power as it is working. My first thought is that I want to be righteous! I want to be able to pray powerful prayers. But, am I righteous? Sometimes, I pray with doubts. Not doubts in God, but doubts in myself. My prayers sometimes focus more on…

Your Weak Spot

What’s your weak spot? You’ve got one, of course, as we all do, and Satan knows exactly where it is. He’s lurking around, watching, waiting, looking for us to let our guards down, then he attacks. One thing that makes it so difficult is that he often uses something in us that’s harmless. He takes a good desire and makes it bad. Here’s Eve’s tragic mistake: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that…