Walt Garrison, who once played running back for the Dallas Cowboys, was asked if he ever saw Coach Tom Landry smile. He replied, “No, but I’ve only been here six years.”
Landry, of course, had a great sense of humor. But he was usually so absorbed in the management of the game he was coaching at the time that he seldom showed any emotion, including a smile when on the sidelines.
Depression is one of the most common of all emotions. It comes to all of us occasionally. It can range from mild and temporary to severe and prolonged. There are times when we just have the blues for a day or two, and there are other times when it seems as though the light of life has gone out.
When it comes to depression I know what I’m talking about. I’m not dealing with theory. I hav...
When Billy Curry was drafted by the Green Bay Packers it was the fulfillment of a lifetime dream. He had always wanted to play for the famed coach Vince Lombardi. At the first training camp Lombardi said to the players, “Men, around here, our priorities are three and in this order: God, family, and the Green Bay Packers.” Then, Curry remembers, “[Lombardi] took us out to the practice field an...
One more word about suicide, for it is as prevalent today among the young and the old as any other ill. Suicide is in many ways the most tragic form of death. It usually entails more shock and grief for those who are left behind than any other. And it leaves us with many questions. However, the Bible can address the matter with three truths.
The practice of suicide is very old....
In the midst of all the rebellion, lawlessness, disorder, and crime in our world, some people are asking, “Is God at work in today’s world or has he abandoned it altogether?”
Jesus once told the story of a man who planted a seed in the ground and then he went on about his daily activities. All the time that he was carrying on the normal activities of his life, that little seed was growi...
On average, there are 123 suicides every day. Although suicide rates are highest in many of the poorer countries in the world, even those countries that have solved most of their economical and social problems still suffer from epidemic levels of this terrible scourge.
Almost everyone agrees that suicide is wrong. But why is it wrong? The Bible gives us the answer.
Firs...
Years ago a man called our church office wanting me to do the wedding of his daughter. When he found out I was going to be on vacation that week he said, “Why do preachers need a vacation? The devil never takes one.”
I thought to myself, “If I didn’t take a vacation every once in a while I’d be as mean as the devil.”
I am a certified workaholic. As English pastor Charles Spur...
For forty years Jane, the wife of Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, was a loving and devoted wife. She encouraged and helped him in every way, but Carlyle was a crosswise old man who never expressed to her the kind of love that he felt for her. When she died suddenly, he wrote these sad words, “O that I had you for five minutes by my side that I might tell you I always loved you. She never...
One of the hardest teachings of Jesus is, “Love your enemies, bless them who curse you, do good those who hate you, pray for those who despitefully use and persecute you.”
You say, “I could never do that.” You not only can, you must. If we don’t forgive others who hurt us, God will not forgive us of our sins. As has been said, by refusing to forgive others, we destroy the bridge over w...