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There is tremendous comfort to be found in knowing what God is doing in our lives each day. The Holy Spirit has graciously made known to us what God is going to do on any particular day.   Armed with this reality, it is possible to face each day with the certainty of knowing what God's actions will be. Someone might be asking where this information can be found. This is where faith comes in.  Obviously, I am not talking about knowing what will happen at 3 p.m. this afternoon. Neither am I talking about being able to predict the earthquake that happened in Washington, D.C. this morning.  What we do know, however, is that God is a God who is trustworthy and cares for his people as a loving Shepherd. Nothing will ever change this. In Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew that God had the power to rescue them from the flames. That was not in question. So their praise for God was not based upon the circumstances that occur, but on the faithfulness of God. To be specific, their praise of God was not contingent upon whether he would rescue them from the flames.  No matter what happened to them in the fire, God would still be faithful. This is why these three young men could be so confident as they faced the fire.

Today, my wife and I are travelling to Duke University for an appointment at the Brain Tumor Center. As I shared with you in a previous post, my wife has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.  The type of tumor is a stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme.  This is an aggressive tumor. We are going today for another MRI and evaluation of the initial round of radiation and chemotherapy.  Around 2 p.m. today, we will find out how effective the treatment has been.  In other words we will find out what God has been doing since Ruth's surgery last April. 

The statement that sin is never logical seems obvious enough. If an action is contrary to God's commands we would expect the outcome to less than good. Yet how many times when observing sinful behavior in others do we hear the words, "how could you do that; what were you thinking"?  When one child takes another's favorite toy knowing it will cause trouble, we ask, "Why did he do that?" as if the answer were a mystery. The implication is that if the child had been thinking logically or wisely he would not have taken the toy.  In this case it is easy to see that the child was acting selfishly and not obeying God.  This is not really a knowledge issue but one of disobedience and selfishness. However, when it comes to the behavior of adults it seems that logical, biblical behavior is expected. So we ask the question, "What was the person thinking?"

You live in a world that wants to take you and your children captive.  The goal of this captivity is to have Christians follow the ways of Satan rather than the ways of Christ (Colossians 2:8 and Ephesians 2:1-3). In the book, Instructing a Child's Heart, Tedd and Margy Tripp give a strong warning about being captured by the surrounding godless culture.  Parents, your children are being raised in a hostile world. For Americans, this hostility has been obfuscated by the past influence of Christian thought.  But this influence has been steadily eroding.

In a recent post I raised the question about God's involvement with the oil spill in the Gulf. There are at least two perspectives from which to consider this question. The first perspective is to consider if God is actively involved and if he is, to what extent. The second perspective is to consider whether the human agents that are part of this spill could have benefited from considering relevant biblical principles. A related issue is how to follow the direction of Deuteronomy 6:4-7 in talking about the spill with your family.

Oil is gushing from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum (BP) has thus far failed to cap the oil flowing into the Gulf. The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring the situation. In an address from the Oval Office the President said that he is upset and wants the problem solved. In the meantime fish, birds, and other wildlife are being coated with an oily film. This film is also beginning to cover beaches and wetlands all along the Gulf Coast. Tourism and fishing, vital to this region, are also threatened. The finger pointing is increasing. Questions abound on the economic, political, and ecological fronts. What is to be done about the oil?

One thing that Christian parents can agree upon is that we want our children to come to faith in Christ. But what does this saving faith look like?  It is difficult to urge your children to something if you are not sure exactly what that something is. There are at least two components of what saving faith practically looks like. Hebrews 11:6 says that "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

This story that follows is written by Shepherd Press representative Richard Riggall.  This story is a powerful example of a Christian being aware of God in everyday life. Instead of routinely going through motions of another landing, Rick used this opportunity to think first of God and his ways. As this story illustrates, our lives are always in God's hands.

My head pressed against the window as the plane banked to line up for the runway, just last month on my way to Together for the Gospel. As the plane leveled out for its final descent, our shadow slid into view, straight below, just off to the side. The shadow rustled over the tree tops, across a freshly plowed field, through rolling fields waiting for the plow, growing ever larger, darker and more clearly defined. Crossing a small lake we extinguish the sparkle of the morning sun, emerging on the far shore without shedding a drop; I am mesmerized by my shadow. I can see that my shadow is about to intersect a major highway, busy with the morning traffic. Will we...? Yes; my shadow flits fully over a speeding pickup truck. Did the instant of sudden shadow cause the driver to think of the brevity of life? Do other people suddenly think about the brevity of life? Is it only me? My shadow enters a new, expensive looking neighborhood; clean gray roofs sit atop large rambling houses with multi-car garages on rich green lawns on gently winding streets and tidy cul-de-sacs. There are no cars parked on the drives, or laundry flapping in the breeze or children playing in the yard. On through neighborhoods, shopping areas, industrial parks, congested roads, railroad yards, vacant lots, my shadow growing ever larger. The silent journey of my growing shadow seems to become ever faster even as the dimly perceived rumble of the plane around me tells me that in reality we are slowing down. Our landing is imminent. I meet my shadow as the wheels skid on the runway, and I think; "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Col 2:17)

Why do we so easily become more mesmerized by the shadow than the reality which is in Christ?

May God grant to all of us to make real "the reality which is in Christ". 

No, I don't have a defective calendar. My wall calendar clearly states that May 31^st is Memorial Day. And Memorial Day certainly is a day to remember those who have died in service to our country. We owe much to those who willingly placed themselves in harm's way so that the benefits of liberty could be passed on from one generation to the next.