The way to ever deepening joy in God is suffering. There are joys unspeakable and glorious in knowing God. Do you want to experience the fullness of Christ? Do you want to be overwhelmed with the vision of this one who is the chief of 10,000? Do you want to be emptied of yourself and swallowed up in Christ? Would you want to see his glory as the mediator between God and man? Do you long to have a full sense of his wonderful, pure, sweet grace and his meek and gentle condescension to such as we? Do you want to glory in his excellence and so that the glory of him swallows up all thought? Do you want to […]
Worldview
586 posts
Most of the difficulties that you and your children face are not caused by a lack of information. Most arise because of a lack of sound judgment. This is illustrated by the experience of Israel after Joshua died: Israel became a spiritual train wreck. Why? They knew about God but they didn’t know God. Here is what Judges 2:10 says about this time: And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. As you read through the book of Judges it becomes apparent that the people knew about God. You hear him talked about all the time. […]
The most significant parts of life are those that are unseen. If your view of reality is limited to what you can see, your understanding of life will be ill-informed. The culture tells us that life can be measured by what is seen: how much money do you have, stock market reports, opinion polls, how healthy we are. Thus, our assessment of these measurable things becomes the basis of our security, and more importantly, the basis of our fears. However, such thinking is unsound. As Elisha said over 2,500 years ago, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Elisha’s young servant was afraid. He saw a large army of […]
Regardless of laws, judicial decrees, executive orders and public opinion, independence from God is not possible. Isaiah reminds us of God’s total control and man’s total dependence on him in Isaiah 40:21-23: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. The prophet’s words are as true today as they were 2,800 years ago. It is […]
A father is a man who knows his life is not his own. A father is a man whose identity is formed by what God has called him to be. A father first and foremost protects, nurtures and loves. A father’s love is dominated by how he shows the beauty of Christ to his wife. A father’s love to his children is strengthened by his love to his wife. A father nourishes rather than punishes. A father defines sacrificial love for his family. A father knows the captivating power of a gentle, confident spirit. A father persuades through pleasant words and firm allegiance to truth. A father knows that love and discipline must not be separated. A father leads his […]
Each year I repost the prayer President Franklin Roosevelt made for the success of the D Day invasion on June 6, 1944. President Roosevelt did not speak of many Gods or many faiths or many religions. He did not sheepishly lead the nation in a moment of silence, afraid that he might offend someone. Roosevelt knew that the fate of global civilization hung in the balance as tens of thousands of young soldiers stormed the beaches of France. If the invasion failed, there was no plan reliable B. So Roosevelt asked that the will of Almighty God be done. To him and to millions and millions around the world, the idea of seeking protection and victory from a moment of […]
John urges us not to love the treasures of this world. Another way of saying this is not to fall in love with time. Time has do with the earth. Yes, time is important, but it is not a thing to be worshipped or to serve. If time becomes your master, you will not be able to serve God. If time becomes your treasure, your heart will be enslaved to the wrong master. How can loving time be a bad thing for your family? Time is the enemy of building relationships that address the issues of the heart. Schedules, appointments, practices, tee-times are all good things that have their place. However, when they take precedence over healing the wounds of […]
When Moses was giving his last words to Israel, he told them that loving God was first, everything else was secondary. He equated the person of God, Deuteronomy 30:20, and the word of God, Deuteronomy 32:47, with life itself. Not only was God their life, he was to be the love of their life. Who God is and what God said were to be met by Israel with a heart of love. The success of the individual families and the nation as a whole was directly connected to loving God first in all that they did. Hear the urgency in Moses’ challenge: Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain […]
The pursuit of purity is not a popular quest! If someone asked you what your goal in life is and you answered “to pursue purity,” it would, for sure, be an unexpected answer. However, when James describes what wisdom that honors God looks like, the first word he selects is pure. Peter urges us to love one another from a pure heart. In the New Testament, to be pure is to be genuine, authentic and undefiled. Purity is vital to a life that honors God. So even though being pure may sound unexciting, that is exactly why it is worthy of pursuit. God’s ways are not our ways. The aggressive pursuit of purity will protect you from the attacks of […]
Today hundreds of thousands of students across the globe are protesting gun violence. The motivation behind these protests is understandable and compelling. There is a growing, realistic fear that their school could be the next target. To date, despite impassioned political rhetoric, there is no appearance of protection for our students. So in this sense the need for action and protest seems clear and obvious. It is more than unsettling to walk out the door to go to school, wondering if you may never come back home again. The deeper sadness is that our nation’s political and educational systems have driven our children to trusting solutions based on laws to heal and stop the wreckage caused by human sin. The […]