Today’s guest post is by our dear friend Diane Meyer, who tells a great and fun story that really fits with the character of our generous, delightful God. Most giving stories I hear don’t involve a dice game and a Harley Davidson motorcycle. But that’s what makes this one so unique. However, the principles behind it don’t just apply to a game of chance. For instance, someone could start a business, set up a fireworks stand, or try to sell... Read more
I think Charles Spurgeon comes as close as anyone I’ve read to articulating what Scripture as a whole reveals. Sadly, though I attended both a good Bible college and a good seminary, I never read Spurgeon or learned anything about him. I’d been a pastor for ten years before I discovered him, and then I couldn’t get enough of him. The Bible oozed out of his pores, and he let Scripture be Scripture, rarely twisting it to fit his theology.... Read more
Relativism dominates the thinking of most educated people (which means sometimes that uneducated people are morally smarter). The “it all depends” morality, controversial fifty years ago when called situational ethics, denies the existence of any objective standards of right and wrong. What’s wrong for one person, so it insists, may be right for another. One uses internal, not external, standards to judge morality. People who say they believe in such a shifting ethic, however, constantly make moral judgments. They may... Read more
When we’re asked to do worthless or unprofitable things, it doesn’t take much wisdom to say no, does it? Especially not when you do one of those things and think, “Okay, that was a waste…I’m never doing that again.” The real problem is all the good things we’re asked to do. I don’t pray over every speaking request, because years ago I sensed God telling me that my default answer has to be no, and He will make it clear when it should... Read more
The problem of how we could possibly be reconciled with a God who hates evil is the greatest problem of history. Before we can see God in Heaven, something must radically change. This calls for no less than the greatest solution ever devised. Here is what we need to know: 1. “God created mankind in his own image…God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31). God made human beings with personal and relational qualities... Read more
Recently a well-known writer and speaker at writer’s conferences, who was also a long-time Christian university professor, was found to have had a decades-long history of attempting to seduce young women. Over twenty-some women have come forward, independently telling similar tales. The university has now dismissed him, admitting there were three cases reported to them for which he was warned and disciplined. Sadly, however, he remained a professor and continued to speak at conferences, where he also continued his immoral... Read more
Unfortunately, in this world under the Curse, there’s often hostility and division between races and nations. But Christ died for our sins of racism and nationalism (I’m not speaking about patriotism—it’s usually healthy for people to be proud of their countries). The redemption of mankind and the earth will include the redemption of human relationships and the uniting of different people groups in Christ. There are different races in Heaven (Revelation 7:9) and even different nations on the New Earth... Read more
I’ve been spending some time in Psalm 1 recently and have been reminded just how important delighting and meditating on God’s Word is. Here’s how the CSB renders it (note the use of “happy” in verse one for the Hebrew asher, often translated “blessed”): 1 How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! 2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he... Read more
Mountain climbers could save time and energy if they reached the summit in a helicopter, but their ultimate purpose is conquest, not efficiency. Sure, they want to reach a goal, but they desire to do it by testing and deepening their character, discipline, and resolve. God could create scientists, mathematicians, athletes, and musicians. He doesn’t. He creates children who take on those roles over a long process. God doesn’t make us fully Christlike the moment we’re born again. He conforms... Read more
When I’m asked who my favorite character from my novels is, I always say it’s Obadiah Abernathy in Dominion, who played baseball in the old Negro leagues. He modeled dignity, grace, wisdom, and humor. My sports inspiration for Obadiah was Buck O’Neil of the Kansas City Monarchs, but my spiritual inspiration was John Perkins. Whenever I wrote dialogue for Obadiah, I asked myself, What would John say? Here’s an excerpt from the book, where Obadiah shares thoughts with his family... Read more
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