The Causes of Discouragement
There is nothing that takes the wind out of our sails as quickly as discouragement. It is difficult to cure. However, Nehemiah 4 demonstrates four causes of discouragement. First, there was fatigue (v. 10). The “newness” of the project had worn off. We are excited at first, but then the difficulties become real. A loss […]
The Bitter Heart
A man once drove by a farm and decided to get out and watch an old farmer still using a mule-drawn plow. The farmer did not seem to be getting very far with the mule as he stood there pulling on the reins. The visitor finally said, “I don’t like to tell people how to […]
Giving Up
Have you ever just called it quits, given up, and turned and walked away from something? The world frowns on quitters. We look down on those who do not finish a job or commitment. But Christians are suppose to call it quits, give up, and walk away from the ways of the world. In Romans […]
The Benefits of Visiting the Sick
Ecclesiastes 7:2-3 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.” […]
The Assumptions of Prayer
The child of God can and needs to learn to appreciate the great blessing of prayer and to teach him how to pray effectively. Let’s think about five assumptions one must grant about prayer. First, we must assume that God is real. One must see God as a thinking, powerful, and personal being. In Hebrews […]
By the Grace of God I Am What I Am
The Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia, home of fictional prizefighter, Rocky Balboa, is as close to hell on earth as any place is likely to be. Video footage on YouTube shows drug dealers conducting business mere steps away from police. Addicts stand bent over at the waist, under the influence of fentanyl. Unconscious people lie on […]
The 23rd Channel
The TV is my shepherd; my spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for His name’s sake, because it requireth all my leisure time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see. It restoreth my knowledge […]
Terminally Ill Woman Takes Her Life
Back in 2014, the media reported the heart-wrenching story of Brittany Maynard. Brittany was a 29-year-old terminally ill cancer patient who terminated her life in Oregon under their “Death with Dignity Act,” which allows people to choose to die using lethal drugs prescribed by a doctor. Brittany was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor that […]
I Will Not Neglect to Remind You
Peter wrote, “For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off […]
I’m Just One
Have you ever thought to yourself that “I’m just one?” You may have thought things like, “I don’t have great talents. There are so many others. Someone else can do better than me. My work, my efforts, my contributions aren’t that significant.” Have you imagined that no one will notice if you aren’t there and […]