Many years ago four men accompanied me on a mission trip to the West Indies. While visiting with people about Christ one day, a heckler said, “Practice what you preach!”
I later learned what was behind the taunt. A few years earlier a young man had professed Christianity and had become very active in the church. He had even done some preaching. Then he fell in love with a beautiful youn...
Nothing is more useless than worry. Corrie Ten Boom wrote, “Worry does not empty today of its sorrow—it empties today of its strength.” While worry does no good, it can do much harm. It is also the cause of many physical ills.
Jesus once asked if we could worry our way to a taller stature (Matthew 6:27). The answer is obvious and points out the uselessness of worry.
Cha...
Many people in and out of the church think of the Christian faith as gloomy, sad, and dismal.
I do not know where this idea came from, but it certainly didn’t come from Jesus. The Pharisees didn’t think of him that way. They called him a glutton and a wine-bibber. He had a reputation for enjoying life. Tax collectors didn’t see him as dull either. He was a favorite dinner guest and enjo...
What is prayer?
First, it is asking God for what we need. Jesus taught us to ask for things (Luke 11:2). If God is really our father and we are really his children, it cannot be wrong to ask him for things.
Second, it is praising God for who he is. Jesus often turned to God for gifts, but at times he turned to him just for the sake of fellowship...
Experiences such as failure, difficulties, heartaches, and disappointments can sometimes almost crush a person. The problems may have to do with marriage, business, health, or children.
Christians face these kinds of pressures just like everyone else. We are not members of a Red Carpet Club. All the pressures of life remain or are intensified when we become followers of Christ. We must...
One of the greatest needs, but most difficult disciplines to establish in the Christian life, is the habit of daily Bible study. I once read what Leland Wang, a dedicated Chinese Christian, said helped him develop this discipline. He wrote:
1. Carrying a Bible or New Testament in my pocket wherever I go. Verses can be read in spare moments. I always have the word of God within easy...
The question of the ages was posed by Job when he asked, “But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?” (Job 14:10)
The answer to that question, I believe, is that man lives on after death. Why do I believe in life after death?
1. I believe it instinctively. A well-known atheist in France honestly confessed a deep-seated urge w...
One of the principal dangers we all face is placing too much value on making money and accumulating material possessions. It is such a great danger because this desire has a way of crowding out the best and finest things of life.
For one thing, it can crowd out our family. I have seen more than one person neglect their family while trying to provide more and more things...
In recent years funerals have garnered a lot of criticism. They have been called everything from pagan to a denial of death. I cannot agree with the current thinking that we should do away with funeral services. If we do, we will be doing away with not only the dignity of the individual, but also with something that helps people have a normal grief release. People have always had traditions, cu...