When we think about starting over, it is not with great joy and anticipation that we do it.  When we’ve lost our job and we have to start over…when we’ve lost our home and we have to start over…when we’ve lost a lifelong mate and we have to start over…when we’ve lost everything in a financial collapse and we have to start…

As you evaluate the past year of your life, how would you rate it?  Was it a good year?  Was it a bad year?  Was it an about-normal year?  Was it an above-average year?  Was it the worst-ever year?  What sorts of things went right for you in the past year?  What sorts of thing went wrong? The question on which I’d…

Having “a little faith” has sometimes been believed to be acceptable, for having “a little faith” is better than having “no faith.”  Right?  While the acceptability of having “a little faith” has sometimes been based on Jesus’ statement to His apostles about having “faith as a mustard seed” (Matt. 17:20), such should not be used to justify remaining in a state of…

How close can we, as Christians, get to works of darkness?  How close can (or should) our children get to works of darkness?  How close can we get before the force of gravity begins to pull us into its evil forces?  Read the first half of Ephesians 5 carefully. The works of darkness “are not fitting” for those who are imitating God…

The word “if” can be used in a constructive way and in a destructive way.  In 2 Peter 1, our God said, regarding the essential Christian qualities, “If these things are yours…If you do these things…” (1:8-10).  As a conditional statement, our God motivates us in constructive ways. In the temptations of Jesus, our adversary used the word “if.”  Twice the devil…

Have you noticed how obsessed television shows have become with sex?  Can you believe we have reached the point when public broadcast television has daytime and primetime shows that have as their sole theme (or as one of their major emphases) the glamorizing of the sexual inclinations and exploits of its characters?  One program that seemed to break through some social barriers…

When one takes the time to read Isaiah 53 slow enough, the predictions about the coming Messiah can be quite alarming.  Consider the expression regarding our Savior that He would be “acquainted with grief” (53:3).  “Acquainted” does not merely mean that He would see grief or feel it, for the rest of the Old Testament indicates that God saw and felt grief. …

This is the time of year when you do more shopping (perhaps) than any other time of year.  Maybe you can only get your husband’s favorite fishing lures at this one specialty shop.  Maybe your wife has a favorite chocolate that can only be purchased at a local shop.  Maybe your friend has a favorite coffee that you have to drive past…