From my earliest memory, my dad taught me to live by Booker T. Washington’s aphorism, “Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.” Later in life, I learned that Washington’s old saying sounded true, but it was not. The fact is most successful people in any arena…
Does One Light Really Make Any Difference? I love the Christmas Eve candlelight service in our church. All the lights in sanctuary are slowly turned off until the room is pitch black symbolizing the world’s condition before Jesus was born. About the time our eyes get adjusted to the darkness, our pastor lights the…
5 GREAT TESTS OF TRUTH Is there any way for you to know whether a person is honest or dishonest, genuine or fake, and truthful or manipulative? When you listen to religious teachers, your marriage partner, your business associates, or your friends, there are five biblical tests for truth that can help you decide it…
Test 1 of 7 Signs of a Healthy Faith “Is your faith EVIDENCE-BASED, or is it based on wishful thinking?” Sarah broke her parents’ heart. When Sarah came home from college and told her parents she could no longer believe in God, she explained, “I wanted to believe but there was just no…
She no longer believed in God. A college sophomore said, “I had to give up my childhood faith because my studies convinced me that all this talk about faith is no more than emotional, wishful thinking.”After talking with her, I discovered her problem. She needed to give up her childhood faith because it…
Be careful. Your faith can infect or inspire. Even with the best of intentions, our faith can hurt others. In his Dynamics of Faith, Paul Tillich, the world-renowned, Christian philosopher, psychologist, and theologian, said, “Today the term ‘faith’ is more productive of disease than of health.” Have you noticed the word faith can mean almost…
Storm is over. Loss of Loved Ones is Not. What you SHOULD and SHOULD NEVER say to someone who hurts. The massive 2016 NE blizzard is over, but the loss of loved ones is not. It reminds us to always be prepared when you want to say something to someone suffering a devastating loss. It…
Are you being DECEIVED? How can you know? Is there any way for you to know whether a person is honest or dishonest, genuine or fake, and truthful or manipulative? When you listen to religious teachers, your marriage partner, your business associates, or your friends, there are five biblical tests for truth that can…
“Is your faith EVIDENCE-BASED, or based on wishful thinking?” Sarah says there is no hard evidence for God When Sarah came home from college and told her parents she could no longer believe in God, she explained, “I wanted to believe but there was just no hard evidence for God. It seems to me that Christianity…
TAKE THE TEST – 7 Signs of a Sick Faith Be careful. Faith can poison. Not all faith is healthy. If your faith is sick, it will poison your relationships, kill your joy, and destroy your peace. If it is healthy, it will enrich your relationship with God and others, enhance your inner joy, and…