One objective you have as a parent is to keep your children safe. But this objective is not an easy one. Planning ways to keep your children safe implies there are dangers in life. And even with the best planning, hard things still occur. There are enemies on every side, both spiritual and earthly. Living as children of light angers the forces of darkness. You and your children are part of a cosmic battle that has been raging since creation. A preoccupation with being safe may keep you from trusting God. No, I am not suggesting you should be irresponsible and ignore safety. But what I am saying is that it is God who ultimately keeps you and your children […]
World View
68 posts
Dear Father, we need your help this day. Our world is a mess. But you are holy and worthy of our praise. We ask that your kingdom will come with power to our family, our lives, our country and our world. There are many things that trouble us. There are threats of war, disease, and unrest. There are acts of terror in our own cities. We pray that your will be in charge where we are just as you are in heaven. We ask for your peace to rule our hearts, to still our minds, to ease our fears. Father, we ask you give us what need to live this day. We know that your eye is always on us. […]
Life can be crushing. People will turn evil. Madness will come. Hurt will run deep. And yes, even worse, our own sins find us out. Where do you go, when the lights go out? Who is there to bind the wounds of your heart? There is a river that runs from life through death to life again. It is the river of hope and strength when all else seems lost. One hell-bent man can bring a nation to its knees. One angry burst of words can send a relationship over the edge. One lost moment of anger and lust can devastate the soul. Where do you go, where do you flee, where is there peace, where is there hope? There […]
In 1953 Hugh Hefner published the first issue of a magazine that would become an American icon. The magazine became symbolic of a nation in pursuit of pleasure, the objectification of women, and moving beyond biblical morality. Hefner framed his views with a long-running series of articles that attempted to show the tyranny of biblical morality and historic Christian theologians like John Calvin. He wanted to see the Bible thrashed and tossed aside. Hefner’s “philosophical” views were a thin veneer that covered his own fantasy that women served no higher end than to fulfill his perverted desire. Hefner died this past Wednesday, but his dream lives on. This dream has shaped the way our culture views women and God for […]
In 1933 some of the leading educators and thinkers of the day penned and signed the Humanist Manifesto. Among the signers was John Dewey, arguably the most influential voice in modern American education. Two full generations have come and gone, but the core beliefs of this document continue to shape American values, culture, and educational philosophy. The Manifesto found in Sartre’s version of existentialism a rich soil in which to grow and propagate its anti-Christian agenda. The Manifesto sought to strip biblical influence from western culture. it has largely succeeded in its mission. People seem to think that their ideas and values are law unto themselves. The question is will the church embrace truly biblical thought so it can once […]
Each day is another day for the history books. Some days are more spectacular than others. However, every day has its own special story. We ask ourselves, “What is that story about? What is my story about?” Life is a mixture of blessings and hardships. Sometimes these can appear to be radically out of balance. But there is balance. There is a unifying theme for all of human history! The story of human history is really the story of redemptive history. Either we are on a random journey, subject to the impersonal rule of random collisions of molecules or we are living out the great plan of the Great King to save a people for his honor and glory! Life […]
This spectacular photo was taken in Jacksonville, Florida, as Hurricane Irma began to move towards the state. The rainbow is a promise from God that there are limits to his wrath. At this moment, we can only imagine the devastation that Irma might bring. But beyond the storm clouds, the wind, the rain, and the surges, the promise of God’s rainbow shines in radiant beauty. Hurricanes remind us of the fury and harshness of life and even of our own sin. Just as the winds and the waves of the storm damage our environment, the storms of sin ravage the landscape of our lives. Beyond the storms, beyond the hurt, there is grace of God. To the world the rainbow […]
First there was Harvey. He drifted through the Gulf of Mexico without much punch, crossed the Yucatan Peninsula and quickly and unexpectedly became a deadly hurricane. Harvey’s destructive power came because his progress was stalled over the Houston area for days where he dumped over 50 inches of rain in some places. The resulting flooding and devastation were unprecedented. Many called Harvey, with good reason, a once-in-a-lifetime event. Now, less than two weeks later, Irma has become the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic. Her winds have been as high as 185 miles per hour. The entire state of Florida is under an emergency alert. Irma also has the potential to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. What are we […]
This is a short story of two young men with two radically different views of the same treasure. One thought he could not live without the treasure and one who knew could not live with it. This is the choice your teenagers face: should they live for what they can see or for what they can’t see? Moses, as a young man, was offered all the treasures of ancient Egypt. They were the best his world had to offer. Power, possessions, prestige — they were all his. All he had to do was be passive and enjoy the providential circumstances that were literally dropped in his lap. But he said no to all of that. Instead he chose disgrace for […]
A few days ago a tropical storm weakened as it approached the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. But when the system reemerged into the Gulf of Mexico it began to move towards the coast of Texas and grew quickly into a powerful category 4 hurricane named Harvey. Do not allow the public media to deceive you into thinking that mythical Mother Nature birthed Harvey. This storm is not merely the random result of an intense area of low pressure coincidentally interacting with 2 high pressure centers that will potentially result in portions of the Texas coast receiving over 30” of rain, destructive winds and storm surges. Mother Nature has nothing to do with Harvey! This is the work of the […]