A few years back, a church not far from where I live announced that they’d dismissed their nationally known senior pastor for adultery. I have seen this happen again and again and again—in churches, ministries, businesses, entertainment, sports and everywhere else. Satan paints a target on each of our chests. But we have a choice about whether Satan will hit that target. Sexual sin is NOT inevitable. Many Christians are seeking God’s will in any number of areas. A good... Read more
One day I sat on a plane next to a young man, an intelligent college graduate, who told me he believed evil doesn’t exist. “If there’s no such thing as evil,” I said, “then the Holocaust wasn’t evil. Is that what you believe?” He grimaced, then finally, stammering, said, “Well, I guess the Holocaust was a mistake.” I suggested to him that in his heart he must know it was something far worse. Years before Nanci and I had an... Read more
I enjoyed Sports Spectrum’s article Rams WR Cooper Kupp finds ultimate purpose in honoring God on journey to Super Bowl. It included these two short videos of Kupp being interviewed before the game: “You will find you are most fulfilled and most joy when you are rooted in your purpose.”@RamsNFL wide receiver Cooper Kupp shares how he finds his purpose in Christ@CooperKupp pic.twitter.com/ZOk9wzEFku — Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) February 8, 2022 This interaction between @CooperKupp and a kid reporter ❤️ ????: #SBOpeningNight live on NFL Twitter pic.twitter.com/4AUVcQrQlY — NFL (@NFL) February... Read more
One of the questions I’m often asked about Heaven relates to Isaiah 65:17. A reader recently asked, “What does it mean ‘the former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind’? Is this speaking about the old earth itself or are we not going to have any memories of the past including family, friends, talents, life?” I share some thoughts related to this verse in a video answer, and more in the text below: Isaiah 65:17 is linked to the... Read more
“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.” (Proverbs 29:2) The sight of Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine will never be forgotten by many of us. Incredibly, Russian President Vladimir Putin, now a war criminal, asserted that Ukraine does not truly exist as a nation. The sense of entitlement and the implicit return to the mindset of the old USSR, dismantled 31 years ago, was and is stunning. Here’s a video of a Ukrainian... Read more
The book of Nehemiah records God’s sovereign plan to rebuild Jerusalem. Yet it repeatedly shows Nehemiah’s strategic positioning of his people to counter the building project’s many enemies: “We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat” (Nehemiah 4:9, NIV). Their prayer acknowledged God’s sovereignty. Their preparations recognized their responsibility to act wisely. Likewise, our actions should be in concert with our prayers—we should pray to find happiness in God and then take... Read more
I’m encouraged when I see believers focused on getting out of debt. My book Money, Possessions and Eternity has a whole chapter on debt. My little book Managing God’s Money has a couple of chapters related to debt. I also talk about debt briefly in The Treasure Principle and again in my newer book Giving Is the Good Life. According to CreditCards.com, the average American has $5,111 in credit card debt. Slightly more than 40 percent of Americans carry credit card debt month to month, continuing to spend more... Read more
Last fall I had the privilege of being on a Zoom call talking about Heaven and the New Earth with a dozen or so moms who had lost children to the same kind of brain cancer. It was an unforgettable 2 1/2 hours, looking into the faces of all these dear women, most of them close to the camera where the tears and the pain were clearly visible. One of their children had died 14 days before we talked, one... Read more
A reader recently wrote us to ask, “In your book you state that when a Christian dies part goes to the grave and part goes to the feet of Jesus Christ. Where can I find that in the Bible?” Jesus told the dying thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). The apostle Paul said that to die was to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23), and to be absent from the body was to... Read more
During the 2008 Summer Olympics, I wrote about the ethical concerns with Beijing hosting the games. Just as I did then, I have mixed feelings about these Olympics. Certainly I enjoy watching the athletes, and celebrating the cooperation between the nations that’s demonstrated. But are a number of the countries represented doing unethical things? Yes. (Including, by the way, the USA, since we are the leading proponents of child-killing in the world, funding abortions not only in our own country... Read more
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