Yesterday was Mother’s Day and my sermon was entitled, “Balanced Growth: A Mother’s Hope” from Luke 2:52, which says, “Jesus increased (or grew) in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Preachers and teachers have most often classified those as four ways of growth: mental, physical, spiritual, and social, so those were…
I attended another funeral last week – this one for my friend Don Miller. The family said his last words were, “almost to glory!” I’ve often wondered what people think when they know for certain that they are dying. I had a book once that, like many, has disappeared from my shelves, but it recorded…
Sometimes you have a choice of laughing or crying. A few years ago, we drove quite a distance to preach on Easter Sunday morning for a pastorless church. Following the service I was thanked and handed an envelope. On the way home, I jokingly, asked my wife to open the envelope and see if we…
Ever hear the term, “worry-free”? I tried without success to research the term to find its origin and meaning. It obviously means to be free from worry, but it also implies that worry is free. I’ve learned the hard way that worry doesn’t change the outcome, and the cost is high – high blood pressure,…
Last week we celebrated National Sibling Day. You say you didn’t know there was such a day. Well unlike Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Sibling Day is not yet a national holiday and Hallmark has not yet flooded the market with Happy Sibling Day cards, although the Siblings Day Foundation is working to change this….
How many steps of faith does one take in a lifetime? For a believer, the answer is many. As one who has taken more than an average share of faith-steps I am disturbed by the misunderstanding in today’s new age, post-modern culture. The prevailing misconception embraced by much of the unchurched world is that church…
When will you have prayed enough? If you ask God once for some thing or on behalf of someone is that enough? Can God respond to one single prayer? Of course He can, but does He desire more? It reminds me of the child sitting in front of the TV at Christmas time watching every…
Do you ever ask for divine direction in your daily life then blame God when the results don’t please you? Your early morning prayer is for God’s direction through the day, then your car won’t start so it must be God’s fault. It may also be your fault for not attending to the battery light…
A casual observance of society reveals loyalty is a lost art. In earlier days, sports fans could expect professional athletes to remain with one team for the life of their career. Now loyalty yields to a “show me the money” mentality. My grandparents believed, to guarantee a long marriage they should leave the word “divorce”…
While teaching a class on Prayer at the Hong Kong Baptist Seminary, I quoted Isaiah 30:15 to illustrate prayerful meditation, “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” The blank look of the faces of the students told me I needed to stay on this subject a bit longer. Facing me was a classroom of…