Satan has conned many people into a twisted view of the Christian life. We imagine that God calls us to do things that won’t be good for us, while the unbelievers are out there having all the fun. In fact, anything done for God’s glory also works for our good. Choosing what is good and right will always be to our advantage. Wrongdoing sometimes appears to offer benefits, and doing right may seem to bring serious disadvantages. But in the... Read more
Last week, 99-year-old Billy Graham entered the presence of Jesus. (See Christianity Today’s special issue dedicated to him, as well as John Piper’s tribute.) In 1970, as a brand new Christian, I heard Billy Graham for the first time at a crusade in Portland, Oregon. His friend George Beverly Shea, the soloist who preceded Billy in song in Crusades over the span of nearly sixty years, sang How Great Thou Art. Over forty years later, in 2011, I was teaching on Heaven at The Cove, the... Read more
I’ve seen families, friends, neighbors and churches torn apart by refusal to forgive. If we believed in the joy-giving power of forgiveness, it would transform our perspectives and help us live happier, more God-honoring lives. Everyone could call up a catalogue of grievances done to them by their children, parents, friends, spouse, employers, neighbors, the DMV, the phone company. Some wrongs are real and serious, others are imaginary or exaggerated, but all sabotage happiness unless there’s true forgiveness demonstrated by refusal to... Read more
I’ve written about quarterback Nick Foles on my blog. He’s a Christ-loving young man who millions of people across the country celebrated when the Eagles won the Super Bowl earlier this month, and Nick was named the MVP. Nick was an early success in the NFL, followed by injury and being traded and becoming a backup. Most of us aren’t professional athletes, but career disappointments and personal failures in family relationships and whatever we do are just some of the many... Read more
When I was seventeen years old and had known Christ for less than two years, I experienced what I believe was a miracle. Driving at fifty miles an hour, I was about to crash. All I could see in front of me, top to bottom and side to side, was the yellow of a school bus, which pulled in front of me from a side road, but which I didn’t see until a split second before impact. But the impact... Read more
Having an eternal perspective is in many ways the key to living a true Christ-following life. Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (NIV). If we let this reality sink in, it will forever change the way we think and live. In our ministry, we encourage believers to look at life differently—like Elisha’s servant whose... Read more
My friend Jay Echternach’s story of faithfully loving his wife Debbie, who has early onset dementia, was one of the most read and shared posts on my blog last year. (If you haven’t yet read it, I encourage you to start there so you know more about their journey.) Jay recently wrote another powerful post about his bride and the connection between them. Many times his words about Debbie have touched me, but these more than ever. Thank you, brother, for being... Read more
Sadly, last week the U.S. Senate blocked the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have protected unborn babies from abortion after 20 weeks, when doctors say they’re able to experience pain. The U.S., along with China and North Korea, is among only seven countries worldwide which allow elective abortion after 20 weeks. (See Explainer: What you should know about the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.) It’s heartbreaking that this Act was not cleared by the Senate, when the lives of unborn... Read more
Scripture describes Heaven as both a country (Luke 19:12; Hebrews 11:14-16) and a city (Hebrews 12:22; 13:14; Revelation 21:2). Fifteen times in Revelation 21 and 22 the place God and His people will live together is called a city. The repetition of the word and the detailed description of the architecture, walls, streets, and other features of the city suggest that the term city isn’t merely a figure of speech but a literal geographical location. After all, where do we expect physically resurrected people to live... Read more
A couple attending a Sunday school class I was teaching years ago at my church had discovered that the child she was carrying was anencephalic. Devastated, they requested prayer of the class because “we’re meeting with the doctor tomorrow to discuss our options.” Knowing the primary option discussed would be abortion, I waited to see if any of the believers present would offer counsel. A number of sincerely sympathetic people approached them. Yet no one warned them not to follow... Read more
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