Every new year invites us to dream again—new goals, new habits, new resolve. For some, these resolutions take root and flourish. Yet others feel stuck before they even begin. The problem is not always a lack of desire or discipline. More often, it is the weight of...
As we begin a new year, many of us look for a fresh start. We set new goals and intentions, hoping that this year will be different in some way. But the greatest new beginning doesn’t come from trying harder; it comes from believing the truth about what Jesus has...
Out of the mouths of babes come some of the hardest issues that ever confront theologians, to say nothing of Sunday school teachers or parents. For example, the question that my son, then five years of age, once put to me in rush-hour traffic: “Daddy,” he said, “how...
Bitterness always promises power, but it never delivers. It tells us that holding on will protect us, justify us, or somehow balance the scales. Yet the longer we clutch our grudges, the more they clutch us. They drain our joy, cloud our judgment, and quietly shape...
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL When Larry Alexander learned that he had eighteen months to live, his world came crashing down. The prospect of experimental surgery offered some hope, but the future was pretty bleak. His wife, Anne, then pregnant with their third...
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL Wanting to give her daughter a beautiful wedding in spite of a limited budget, the mother of the bride gathered blossoms from friends’ magnolia trees, and the night before the wedding, banked the front of the church with the luscious,...
At Christmastime, we often picture the star of Bethlehem shining brightly over a manger. But long before that night in Bethlehem, God gave a sign, a prophecy carved not just in Scripture, but even in stone that pointed to the coming of Christ. In Numbers 24:17,...
God makes no mistakes. God never guesses. He never over-thinks anything. He is never confused, never anxious, and never without a plan. The universe testifies to the order determined by the Creator. The sun comes up every day. The moon in its various versions appears...
LISTEN TO THE DEVOTIONAL A certain woman wanting to join her church group going to Israel wondered if she should really spend the money. “God,” she prayed, “ give me a sign; show me what I should do.” Placing the glossy brochure on her table beside the bed, she...
A clenched fist can’t shake hands. It can’t build bridges, make peace, or welcome friendship. Neither can it applaud—because anger always silences celebration. What feels like strength in the heat of the moment often leaves us weaker, lonelier, and chained to...