“But I tell you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you…”Matthew 5:44 (NIV) Sometimes I read this passage from the Sermon on the Mount and I think, “Has Jesus met some of the people I work with?” “Has he met my brother, my neighbor or any of the other characters in my life?” This is perhaps the hardest command to follow. Jesus taught us and expects us to pray for our attackers, to lift up our critics and... Read more
Image via Wikipedia “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things”. — Mark 6:34 You’ve seen the signs: “Veteran. Anything helps” “Out of work. God Bless” “Hungry and cold. Thank you. You know the people. Friends, family, neighbors or coworkers, who have had a bad run of luck. Medical bills. Cars that never run. Jobs that never seem to last.... Read more
The Union Army conjured up a masterful strategy to inflict a serious blow on the Confederate soldiers at Petersburg, VA. The idea was to tunnel into the Confederate defensive trench system and detonate a huge quantity of explosive. This would expose the trenches and allow the soldiers to override the confederates. A five-hundred foot tunnel was dug and the explosives detonated, producing a hole of 135 feet across. A brigade of troops was sent into the crater to flush out... Read more
A frank talk about loyalty. Zappos, the online shoe seller, expects to generate sales of more than $1 billion this year. That’s a lot of shoes. Besides their metoric growth, they are also turning heads with their unique new-hire program. After the first week or so of intense training, they utilize what they call “The Offer.” It goes something like this: “If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you’ve worked, plus we will offer... Read more
If you are pessimist by nature, you’ve got to be feeling a little smug right now. Economic collapse. Moral decline. Unemployement. Rampant corruption. “I told you so!” Getting some people to see any glimmer is nearly impossible. They have the uncanny ability to stare down the brightest light until they force it to go dark.But, if we are honest, we all take some comfort in our grumblings. We revel in our mumblings. We willingly drag our feet and become slaves... Read more
(see part 1 and 2 for the set up for this post) The Hollywood God is an elderly gentleman who smiles at us, pats us on the back, and gives us our allowance. He doesn’t ask for anything in return. We judge God. We presume who is should be. When He doesn’t meet up to our expectations of what He should do, we judge Him. When He doesn’t act like we think He should, we turn our backs on Him.... Read more
“God is Good.’“God is Love”“God is Light” You’ve heard these expressions from the time you were a wee child. From these images, we’ve imagined the Almighty as the grandfather we never had. No wonder, when asked about eternity, eight out of 10 Americans will answer that God will reward them for being good.“He wouldn’t send me to Hell, would He?”“I’m basically good.”“I don’t try to be bad.”“Inside, I’m pretty decent.”And so on the deceit continues. But we cannot let our... Read more
It’s amazing how many people want to second-guess God. You’ve heard them. In fact, you’ve probably mouthed some of these things yourself. “If I was God: “I could cure cancer.” “I would bring that little boy back to his family.” “I would stop all the senseless wars.” “I would stop religions from fighting.” “I would stop AIDS.” “I would end poverty.” All of these things are worthy things to ask God to intervene. After all, a child’s death seems so... Read more
“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all. “ — Sam EwingWhat do you think about hard work? We all have a lazy gene that sneaks up every once in a while. Others let it flourish. Some will work hard their whole life out of some sort of emotional need for success. Others could care less. In your experience, do Christians work harder? Or... Read more
The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember… Noah was a drunk Abraham was too old Isaac was a daydreamer Jacob was a liar Leah was ugly Joseph was abused Moses had a stuttering problem Gideon was afraid Samson was a womanizer Rahab was a prostitute Jeremiah and Timothy were too young David had an affair and was a murderer Elijah was suicidal Isaiah preached naked Jonah ran from God Naomi was a widow Job went... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In