TAG   |   complacency

Movements for Christ

Headlines in newspapers repeatedly tell of student revolts that are rocking college campuses. It would be serious if these occurrences were only in the United States. But they are not. They are a worldwide phenomenon. In light of these vocal, aggressive, visionary, and impatient youth who are creating so much chaos, one wonders why must evil have a corner on boldness,...

Ignorance Is No Excuse

When God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, Moses tried to excuse himself by saying that he didn’t know enough to do the job adequately (Exodus 3:13). He pled ignorance in the first degree. Moses was afraid to undertake the challenge God gave to him because he was afraid someone would ask him a question that he couldn’t a...

Spiritual Burnout

2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to rem...

Living Above the Mountain...

1 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upo...

Lostness

It is the responsibility of Christian people to share the good news of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life with those who are not Christians. The tragedy is that Christians are often indifferent to the needs of others. Christians are to care. We are to care about people even when these people don’t care about themselves. We must not become indifferent to t...

God Bless Us with a Rebir...

Let me point to just one area where we need some people to “yell” a little. That is in the field of entertainment. By the time a child enters the first grade, he has spent more hours in front of a TV set than he will spend in a college classroom, and much of what he sees is filth. Can anyone deny that movies, TV, and books are dirtier than ever? But we don...

Keep Pressing On

The apostle Paul evaluated his own life when he wrote, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but ... I press toward the mark” (Philippians 3:12,14). “Not perfect, but still pressing.” That should be the attitude of every Christian. We should never be content. We should always be contending. About 400 years before...

Getting the LEAD Out of L...

Churches today are troubled. Many of them are either dead or on the critically ill list. Effective, dynamic leadership is the greatest need of the church right now. Without it our churches will never reach their full potential. Too often our churches are bringing up the rear instead of pushing back the frontier because leaders aren't leading! This book is written with...

Presuming on Tomorrow

The Bible warns us against presuming on tomorrow when it says “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knoweth not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). We are not forbidden to plan for or to think about tomorrow, but we are told not to presume upon it. Instead we are told we should live each day with the consciousness that tomorrow may not be ours....

Today's Devotional

Senseless Tragedies

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.

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