“Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.” (Psalm 32:6) My wife told me a story several years ago, which took the form of a modern-day parable. Jesus often relied on parables in the Bible to compare something in everyday life to a spiritual truth. However, many of us have trouble applying them in today’s world because we don’t belong to the culture for which they were written. In other words, […]

“These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Several years ago, I received e-mail from a reader in Colorado who was experiencing health problems. I couldn’t help but think of her in light of recent struggles with my own health. “I am having problems right now… that I have been having for the past two months. It seems like I get over one […]

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1) There are times in my Christian walk when I wonder why I ever became a Christian. Salvation may have been free, but living the Christian life has cost me dearly. I’ve lost good friends, dropped some old habits, and stood up to speak against lifestyles to which I was […]

“Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.” (I Peter 1:15) Several years ago, I was involved in settlement negotiations over some litigation that had been working its way through the courts for a lengthy period of time. I realized as I sat through an afternoon of discussions that the very principles, which originally prompted the lawsuit, had somehow gotten lost among all of those lawyers. While they argued over legal fees, the real issues about which we were supposed to […]