Have you ever asked, “Why?” I often wonder why God does some of the things He does. Some people mistakenly think that God is the source of natural disasters and every type of human tragedy. News flash: God doesn’t have a cruel streak! At the same time, however, our Heavenly Father does have this tendency to […]
I’ve decided to change the title of this blog mini-series to “Wondering in the Wilderness” because that’s what we tend to do upon finding ourselves in desolate territory—wonder what happened to God and his promises. It is this very tendency toward doubt that God is trying to kill off from our lives. Our heavenly Father […]
Have you ever noticed that sometimes God leads us into places that we wouldn’t necessarily choose for ourselves? Think of Moses and the nation of Israel. Deliverance from bondage in Egypt: emotional high! Trapped by the Red Sea: frightening low. The parting of the waters: jubilation! Journey into the wilderness: discouraging, unending dryness. When I […]
Disappointment. Discouragement. Frustration. All are words that often characterize our responses to difficult, if not impossible, circumstances. As I look back over my life I see so many difficulties and impossibilities. Why, I ask, is it that life always seems to be so hard? Why are there always so many challenges and so many limitations? […]
Well, have you taken some time to think and pray about it? What do you think God likes? Here’s my story: The morning air still had a slight chill. It was going to be a hot one so I wanted to water down the garden before the heat of the day. I would love mornings […]
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13) Jesus spoke of four types of responses people have in receiving the life of God’s word. Some have become hardened from being trampled by the world—they understand nothing. Others receive the word with excitement, but lack the depth of resolve to stand the rigors of opposition. The […]
It is day 50 of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill with no foreseeable fix in sight. In spite of the fact that the current cap is helping to siphon a significant volume of oil, it is also revealing a magnitude to this spill that is far greater than we were initially led to […]
When we were kids my cousin Michael and I used to love those mid-winter, Saturday afternoon TV flicks. Some were westerns. Some were monster movies. All involved action, pitting the forces of good and evil against each other. The world was a safer place because good always won out in the end. Seriously, that’s what’s […]
I was embarrassed and quite thankful that nobody else in the room was aware of my failure (or were they?). There I stood staring at the primary election ballot suddenly realizing that I didn’t have a clue about some of the candidates running for certain offices. To be honest, it’s happened before, but for some […]
On September 10, 2001 the world didn’t necessarily seem like such a great place, but in retrospect I guess it wasn’t really all that bad. On that day the twin towers still stood as symbols of American strength and supremacy. How things have changed since that time! How I wish that 9/11 had never happened! […]
