I think perhaps the hardest thing that any pastor could ask a congregation to do is to become personal witnesses and to share their faith with somebody who is not a believer. If you ask people, “Why don’t you witness? Why don’t you share your faith with others?” you would get a lot of different answers...
Some time ago a man just dropped in my office who obviously was despairing of life. It did not take long for me to know that he had virtually come to the end of his rope. He had no meaning, no purpose in existence. I had just been teaching to our church the Roman road of salvation and I decided that I would use that plan of s...
A news article began, “America is thirsty for some good news.” It was referring to inflation, a coal strike, and trouble in the Middle East. But the good news that America really needs is the good news announced by the angel that day when the friends of Jesus came to the tomb where he was buried. The angel said, &...
John Greenleaf Whittier once wrote, “For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’” Those words are the sad commentary on many a life. People start with such great promise and have such golden opportunities. But they make the wrong choices and miss their opportunities...
Part of the act of baptism in the church of India is for the candidate to place his hand on his head and say, “Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.” We might ought to initiate that practice in our churches, because many of us have forgotten that witnessing is our commission also.
We Christians do not unde...
Once we buried a young lady who was only 21 years old. She was killed in a head-on collision while on her way to church. The night before the funeral, my daughter asked why God allows things like this to happen.
I wish I knew. Things like this have puzzled saints, wise men, and philosophers since the world began.
There is simply no one easy answer as to why tragedies like this happen. The answer may lie in the fact that God made us free. He created us with the ability to make our own choices, and choices always involve consequences. If we are careless or foolish in our choices, or if others are, we may suffer because of them. If God did not allow us freedom, we’d be less than people. We’d be robots.
This may be the only explanation we will ever have for some suffering. However, we do not have to know why things happen in order to be victorious over them. On the cross Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) But the heavens were as brass. God was silent. He didn’t even answer his own Son. Jesus might have despaired and become bitter against God. But instead he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend [entrust, hand over] my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
This kind of faith is far more important than any answer we might receive. In our lives, as in the life of Jesus, it is faith that makes the difference between victory and defeat.
So keep believing in God no matter what. Commit your life to him and regardless of what happens, God will help you.