Sin and God’s Solution to the human condition
“Wake up,” my wife said as our ninth grandchild, Kaysie, was about to make her grand entrance into this world. My daughter, Ashleigh, lives on the other side of town, and needed help caring for her three-year-old daughter, Haleigh, during labor. While coffee helped a little, the malaise of being awakened from a sound sleep …
Rebellion: it’s the American way. Don’t like taxes? Rebel. Don’t like religious intolerance? Rebel. Don’t settle for a monarchy; create a new country, thumbing your nose at the world. And therein lies much of our problem. Before I suffered from cancer and lost everything during the housing crash of 2008, I rebelled against working for …
There was a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. The vintner, who understood the value of the land and the potential value of the vine, took special care of his prized plants as one would care for their children. With a vision of plump grapes, he exceeded gardening standards and protocols by building a fence, …
“I love the Lord – I’m born again,” said Floyd. He frequented a church that embraced sin and taught that being born again is “acceptance of being born gay.” Floyd took opportunities to speak behind the pulpit and give to less fortunate people; he possessed a semblance of godliness. He was disciplined, neat, and thorough. …
My shoulder was killing me. Ordinarily, I would simply pop an Advil and call it a day, but the pain was intensifying, and Advil wasn’t curing the root cause of the problem. I assumed my pain was associated with a torn rotator cuff. Years earlier, a huge wave body slammed me into the beach, and …
I remember in grade school, Groveland Park Elementary; I had a foot race against a classmate. He had just received new shoes from his parents that would make him run fast. As a quick runner, I “smoked him,” and he was left scratching his head, wondering how he lost. In that same school, when it …
Upon learning of my dad’s homosexual lifestyle in 1989, I was struck with sadness and confusion. When I learned that he claimed to be a born-again Christian while practicing this rebellious and sinful lifestyle, I became grieved to the core. To grieve is defined as “a deep and poignant distress caused by or as if …
“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” [Matthew 12:34] You cannot get around it; your mouth will eventually reveal what is in your heart. Your passion cannot help but come to the surface in your thoughts, actions, and eventually words. A football fan thinks and speaks about football. A golf fan watches, …
Have you ever considered what “lukewarm” actually is? It is a temperature that has a semblance of being hot or cold but is neither. The temperature is uncommitted in either direction, leaving most people disappointed. I have been let down more than once purchasing a “hot” cup of coffee, only to receive a tepid taste …
Peter wrote a letter in 2 Peter to them that have obtained “like precious faith with us.” “Like precious” is the Greek word “isotimos” which is defined as “of equal value or honor.” In other words, the believers that he addressed were Christians like you and me. Their faith had equal value to Peter’s faith. …
