Your children live in a culture that is truly upside down. God is irrelevant or mocked in the news media. Prayer is illegal in schools. He has been removed from the history books. The idea of sin and accountability to a holy, righteous God is absent from our government. Pandemics and catastrophic events are connected to random chance, geological and meteorological phenomena, and human error. Your children live in a world that offers no comfort when tragic, unexpected loss occurs. Do not wait until a catastrophic event happens to talk to your children about God’s interaction with their world. Here are some ways you can prepare your children to remain right-side up in a turbulent world. Demonstrate it in your […]
Webmaster
178 posts
The Living God knows about tomorrow and exactly what tomorrow will bring. His understanding is not limited by boundaries of human thought. In practice, this means that a virus or an earthquake is not a random event. His acts are not random. He is not playing catch-up. Something like the Corona Virus Pandemic did not catch God by surprise. He was not on coffee break. If he is a God who keeps his word, then he knows all about tomorrow. As the psalmist says: All my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. (Psalm 139:16b) The Bible teaches about a loving, faithful, committed, honest God who controls tomorrow. Whether you are facing […]
You cannot live life from God’s perspective and not your own without consistent, informed, faithful prayer. Praying constantly for God’s wisdom and discernment is a lifestyle habit that will keep your world balanced. Your heart can remain right-side up, regardless of the circumstances you encounter. Paul commands all of us to pray constantly, continuously. To do this, we must see how God has prepared us in his Word, by his Spirit, to respond to the unexpected events of life. I have written this book to provide you with scriptural truths that will help you pray and think in ways that will transform your perspective to see God’s good purpose in all that happens. Embracing these truths will enable you to […]
Our new book, When Life Turns Upside Down: Finding Stability Through God’s Comforting Peace by John A. Younts, is now available with special introductory pricing and generous bulk discount options. Ebooks are available now, and paperbacks will be shipping soon. When Life Turns Upside Down is a small book for ordinary people, and those who help them, facing new and challenging circumstances such as the coronavirus. Mankind is not in control of the world. Throughout history there have been moments when God has made this powerfully clear in the space of a heartbeat. These are the times when life seems to turn upside down. This small book applies the truth of the Holy Spirit through his word so that each […]
Parenting & Children’s Books Sale With many people across the country at home with their children full-time, we are offering a 25% discount on select Parenting and Children’s titles, including the following: God’s Great Plan by Melissa Cutrera, Illustrated by Matthew Sample III The Herein Is Love series by Nancy Ganz (individually or as as a set) Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp Many more titles are on sale – visit our Current Sales page to see them all. Coronavirus Update As you may have heard, Amazon has suspended orders of all “non-essential” goods being shipped to its warehouses. As a result, you may have difficulty ordering some […]
“O Israel, hope in the lord from this time forth and forevermore” (v. 3). We can’t hope unless we come to terms with two truths. When it comes to our pride, we need a subdued and humbled heart. When it comes to God’s providence, we need a calmed and quieted soul. When these are in place, hope anchors our soul even when we pass through the deep waters of affliction. Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, when the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain, will your anchor drift or firm remain? We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll, Fastened to […]
Calming and Quieting the Soul (v.2) “But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.” Why does David’s soul need calming and quieting? Perhaps he struggles with inordinate longing (overvaluing something he wants), obstinate clinging (overvaluing something he has), distrustful worrying (undervaluing God’s power), or ungrateful murmuring (undervaluing God’s goodness). Whatever the case, he claims to have “calmed and quieted [his] soul, like a weaned child with its mother.” What’s David’s point? “The weaned infant,” explains Thomas Manton, “challenges nothing, expects nothing, but what his mother will give him.” A weaned child is cut off from his mother’s milk, implying he no longer receives what […]
Subduing and Humbling the Heart (v.1) “O lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” In this verse, David makes three claims— each revealing something about the nature of pride. David’s claim that his “heart is not lifted up” reveals that pride is innate; it resides in the heart. David’s claim that his “eyes are not raised too high” reveals that pride usually leads to ambition— craving for acceptance, admiration, and adulation. And David’s claim that he does not concern himself “with things too great and too marvelous” reveals that pride usually leads to presumption— aspiring after “great” things and […]
Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist, wrote of his years imprisoned in the horrors of Auschwitz and Dachau, describing cold, fear, pain, vermin, starvation, and exhaustion, but said he survived because he never lost hope. He also wrote of what would happen when a prisoner did lose hope: he would refuse to get out of bed, refuse to dress or wash, turning a deaf ear to his friends’ pleading and his captors’ threatening. He would simply lie in his bed until he died, having surrendered all hope. Hope is absolutely crucial to Christians. When it weakens, the result is always the same: spiritual inertia. It’s imperative, therefore, to remember that we’re on a journey—still a long way from home—and […]
Unless the lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. These are perhaps the two causes of greatest concern in life: provision […]