Adversity

We Need Hope When the Seas Are Rough My favorite passage about hope in the book of Hebrews is in chapter 6, where hope is described as an anchor for the soul. The writer of Hebrews didn’t just give his readers some uplifting quotes or inspirational comments. He pulled them into the heart of the Old Testament and gave them some very serious hours of Bible study. And he told … [Read more...] about What Does Hebrews 6:19 Mean?

At some point everyone has asked why life is so hard. The question has been asked by believers from the beginning. The greatest thinkers of the ages have wrestled with this—and not just writers like Job, Sartre, and Descartes. Even pop pundits like Woody Allen have summed it up by saying, “Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering—and it’s all over much too … [Read more...] about If God Is So Loving, Why Does He Allow Suffering in the World?

America loves game shows, especially when the price is right. Game shows started in 1938 during the golden age of radio with the broadcast of “Spelling Bee.” In 1940, “Truth or Consequences” began on radio and soon jumped to television. As TVs became household fixtures, game shows filled the daylight hours, allowing advertisers to hawk soaps and cigarettes to homemakers. In … [Read more...] about The Satisfyingly Simple Answer to the World's Problems

Perhaps you’re not where you want to be. You’re reading this in a hospital bed, or in a prison or halfway house, or in a distant city far from family. Maybe you’ve had to move out of the home you loved or away from the town where you grew up. You might be reading this in a dormitory room, feeling lonelier than you’ve ever felt in your life. We’re not always in our ideal … [Read more...] about God Is in the Room—Right Now

Something is changing in the Western world. Increasingly, police departments find themselves disparaged and defunded. Politicians curb law enforcement budgets, and prosecutors release criminals who end up rearrested the next day. Open borders make it difficult to control human smugglers, sex traffickers, and dangerous drugs. We never know what will provoke rioting in our … [Read more...] about Living the Golden Rule in a Tarnished Culture

One young, single woman quit her job in the city and moved back to her small hometown, abandoning her career, and leaving a place of service in the church she had joined. When asked why, she replied, “I just got tired of eating supper alone.” No one is immune to it. Even one of the most brilliant men who ever lived, Albert Einstein, complained, “It is strange to be known so … [Read more...] about 3 Ways to Overcome Loneliness for Christians

How do spiritual drains develop in the life of a believer? Spiritual power does not vanish overnight. It is a gradual process that worsens over time as we establish patterns of behavior that grieve or quench the Holy Spirit. This can happen in a variety of ways, but today we will examine four common leaks: 1. The drain of negative influence. Our relationships will lead us … [Read more...] about 4 Reasons You Feel Spiritually Drained and Ways to Avoid Them

The verses we’ll look at today address eight of God’s promises. Would you like to experience more of God’s love? Or His peace? Perhaps you are hoping for His deliverance. If you are short on time, you can jump to a particular topic: God's abundance God's deliverance God's goodness God's guidance God's love God's peace God's presence God's strength Corrie ten Boom used to … [Read more...] about 18 Bible Verses for Overcoming Anxiety and Stress

Most parents understand the value of the occasional “No.” When our children were younger, Donna and I said “Yes” whenever we could, but there were times when the wisest response was “No.” The dangers of the world demand it. What if your child wants to spend the night with a family about whom you know nothing? What if they want to play in an unsafe area or near a busy street? … [Read more...] about This Might Be the Reason God Tells You “No”

Life has a funny way of twisting, turning, and taking us on a path we could never anticipate. Sometimes the surprises are wonderful. Other times they are absolutely devastating. They can upend the vision we had for our life, and the shock and grief of unwanted change can leave us feeling as if we no longer have a purpose. Such was the case for Joni Eareckson Tada. In an … [Read more...] about Finding Your Purpose Through Pain: The Story of Joni Eareckson Tada

Every four years, the world holds its breath while America chooses a President. The decision, coming at the end of hard-fought campaigns, influences the destiny of history. Perhaps only those closest to the candidates understand the strain of the race. The pressures of running for President must be nearly as great as the stresses of office once elected. When Woodrow … [Read more...] about 3 Lessons Christians Can Learn From the Election

Job’s friends were true encouragers for one week—they sat with him; they wept with him; and most importantly, they remained silent. But once they began to speak, they became Job’s great discouragers. They responded to Job’s words, but they failed to see his pain or to recognize suffering as a potential part of God’s plan. They assumed Job’s sin, never acknowledging the … [Read more...] about How Not to Encourage Your Friends—A Lesson From Job’s Friends

Where can we go during times of trouble? One answer is Zahara de la Sierra in the Cádiz province of southern Spain. Originally built as a castle and fortress in the Andalusian Mountains, Zahara has endured as a place of refuge and security for nearly a thousand years. The town was founded as an outpost for the Moors of the Maghreb; its location between the cities of … [Read more...] about Why COVID? Finding Shelter in God During Times of Crisis

Attitude can mean the difference between victory and defeat in whatever struggle we’re facing. Morale is half the battle, as historian Robert Mackay writes in his book by that title: Half the Battle: Civilian Morale in Britain During the Second World War. According to Mackay, from the outset of World War II, the British Ministry of Information and its partnering agencies … [Read more...] about Facing Coronavirus With Courage, Cheerfulness, and Resolution

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has created an unprecedented crisis in our nation and the world. For the first time in my lifetime, major events and activities have been canceled to stem the tide of a lethal virus. Schools at all levels are either closed for a time or have transitioned to online learning. Broadway theaters have gone dark. Professional sporting events have been … [Read more...] about Facing the Coronavirus: 6 Strategies for Christians

Our world is embroiled in a war against an invisible enemy known as COVID-19. And every war needs a good PR department. Public relations on the home front affect the results on the battlefront and can spell the difference between victory and defeat. That’s why England’s government established the Ministry of Information (MOI) on September 4, 1939, a scant day after Britain’s … [Read more...] about Facing Coronavirus: Keep Calm and Carry On

I’m often asked about the tone of our national discourse. Not since the Civil War, people tell me, has our nation been so divided. Well, I remember the riots of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and I’m not sure how to compare the social temperature of various generations. But I’m as troubled as anyone about today’s angry rhetoric, divisive speech, racial unrest, and cultural … [Read more...] about A Biblical Checklist for Difficult Conversations

Moses was a murderer. David was the youngest of eight brothers. Gideon hid from his enemies. Paul persecuted Christians. Thomas was a doubter. God uses unlikely candidates to build His kingdom, and Scripture is filled with examples. In modern times, William Carey (1761-1834), a poor Englishman with almost no formal education, started a revolution in international missions … [Read more...] about How to Overcome Adversity and Grow Spiritually

A Case for Simple Faith Jesus told a story about a wayward son who wasted his inheritance on wild living and ended up destitute. Filled with guilt and shame, the young man returned to his father’s house in hopes of working as a servant—he didn’t dare believe he could return as a son. When the boy arrived home, his father rushed to greet him, threw his arms around him, and … [Read more...] about Is Faith Enough?

Advice columnist, Ann Landers, when asked if there was a common denominator among the thousands of letters that came to her, said that the great overriding theme of all the letters was fear—fear of nearly everything imaginable until the problem became, for countless readers, a fear of life itself. Yet Proverbs 3:25-26 commands, “Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of … [Read more...] about The Bible’s Powerful 3-Step Process for Banishing Worry and Fear

4 Aspects of God’s Faithfulness Every Christian Should Remember In case of emergency—break glass. No doubt you’ve seen signs bearing these words. Painted bright red, they stand out from their surroundings to grab our attention, offering a lifeline when disaster strikes. Whether it’s a means of turning off the gas line or accessing an AED or activating an alarm, emergency … [Read more...] about When You Feel Discouraged … Do THIS Immediately

Walking the Persistent Christian Journey The Christian life is a journey of persistence and endurance. Each morning when we wake up, we have no idea what the day will bring—a flat tire, a troubling phone call, a medical diagnosis. The question isn’t whether we’ll have trouble but when and how.  Following the example of Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica, we … [Read more...] about 5 Biblical Strategies for When Life Is Hard

Paul Jergan’s bend in the road came in the middle of the night, May 1, 2001, when he was jolted from bed by the ringing of the phone. Half-asleep, groping in the darkness for the phone, he muttered a groggy “hello.” A half-second later he was fully alert. It was the emergency room of a distant hospital. Paul’s son, Travis, a university student in another state, was in critical … [Read more...] about 4 Ways to Meet God in Hard Times

What advice would you give these people? SITUATION 1: In World War II, a patrol of Soviet soldiers captures a German woman who was foraging for food for her three children. Her husband is already in a POW camp in England, and she is taken to a POW camp in Russia. When her husband returns to Germany, he locates their children but is unable to find his wife. The wife, interred … [Read more...] about Why Your Circumstances Don’t Define Your Spiritual Growth

Let’s do a little geology to get started: The surface of the earth is made of giant plates (the Pacific Plate, the North American Plate, the South American Plate, the African, Arabian, Eurasian, Indian Plates—and so on). These plates that form the earth’s crust sit atop the mantle, which is semi-molten—a thick liquid, if you will. Hard plates, sitting atop a molten foundation, … [Read more...] about Finding Faults: How to Avoid Spiritual Earthquakes