Some words are coined especially for use in heaven, and outside the Christian community, it is difficult to really understand their meaning. Such is the word blessed! It comes from the Greek word makarios. It was the word used by Jesus when He sat on the slopes of...
Healing Troubled Marriages
In 1944, Frank Capra, the celebrated director, produced a comedy film called Arsenic and Old Lace. It's about two sweet but murderous aunts who put poison in the elderberry tea that was served to a succession of male residents in their boarding house and then stored...
7 Guidelines To Make This Year A Success
Some folks measure time by years—January 1 to December 31. Some folks keep track of it by birthdays. Some by how long it is until they can finally draw retirement benefits and kiss work goodbye forever, or how many weeks or years stand between them and getting married...
The Gift of Pain
“If I held in my hands the power to eliminate physical pain from the world,” said Dr. Paul Brand, “I would not exercise it.” (Paul Brand & Philip Yancey, The Gift of Pain, p. 219). And what qualifies him to say something so sweeping, so comprehensive? Just think...
This is What You Need From Church
Have you ever had the experience of feeling that you are the “odd person out”? You have to attend a professional meeting or something you feel you should attend but would prefer to skip it. But you can’t. You have to attend. Others stand around talking, laughing, and...
6 Ingredients of a Happy Marriage
One of my memories of growing up was the trip to my grandmother's house, two doors down from Mrs. Schuler's house, where I took piano lessons. Among the pool of memories I will always treasure, is the platter of oatmeal cookies that Grandma always had available. After...
How to Hear God’s Voice in the Midst of Life
Jim Warren, like thousands of other people, believed in God. In fact, he went to church—not every Sunday, but most Sundays. He was a good man. He worked hard to support his family. He was faithful to his wife, Ruth, and occasionally took his boys fishing. Jim really...
Bind the Strongman
When Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of the devil, He countered with a question: “If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then,” he asked, “can his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:26). As He often did, Jesus...
Three Things You Can Do About Worry
"Do you know the difference between a lawyer and God?" asks a comedian, and when someone says, "No, what?" he responds, "God knows he's not a lawyer." While most folks (excluding you, who are attorneys) may smile at that, a great many people today tend to play god. ...
How to Free Yourself From Bitterness
When Terry Anderson was taken captive by a guerilla group, little did he realize that he would be enduring what no one should ever be subjected to. Anderson, age 40 at the time, had been the chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press. Soon after he was...