Some of the most discouraged people I have pastored are parents with children who have walked away from the faith. This post by Abraham Piper is must reading for parents of struggling children: Abraham Piper
Feeling Down?
Week of May 7, 2007
One way to beat depression is to stop thinking of ourselves and start thinking more deeply about Christ.
Let me tell you something to avoid asking a friend who is feeling down. I am not saying it is always wrong, but be careful. Ask this question and you may make the situation worse.Here is the question to avoid, “How are you doing?” “How’s it going for you?”
Forgiveness and Virginia Tech
*This article first appeared as a guest column in the Rockford Register Star. As a pastor, this week I have considered what I would say to one of the Virginia Tech parents who lost a child. In these days and years of…
It is Not a Swear Word
Week of April 30, 2007
The biblical concept of submission is a beautiful one. God works in and through submission and uses those over us to shelter us from some of the storms of life.
Non-Christians regularly throw around words that should not be part of a believer’s vocabulary. No matter how flippantly people may say, “Oh my God,” Christians should never use our Creator’s name irreverently.
You already knew that. What is interesting, is that there are words in the Christians vocabulary that society treats as swear words.
Don’t Get Phished
Beginning the week of January 22, 2007
Don’t get “phished.” The kind of “phishing” I am talking about here has nothing to do with lures or tackle boxes. It is phishing spelled with a “ph.” Getting “phished” happens when you receive what looks like a harmless e-mail asking you to click on a link or download something. But, when you do this, your identity is ultimately stolen via the internet. Identity theft rocketed to an estimated 56 billion stolen in 2006.
God is a Sun and Shield for His Own
For the week of September 18, 2006
If you are looking for a verse for this week, think about this one. Psalm 84:11 says,
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Reflect on the picture that God is a “sun” and “shield.” The idea of God being the sun symbolizes power. To even look at the sun hurts our eyes. God is an atomic explosion. All power, light inaccessible hid from our eyes.
We All Want to Be Written Into the Story
For the week of September 11, 2006
My 3 year old daughter Mary Beth loves to be written into the story. She likes traditional fairy tales a lot. But, she loves them even more when I invent a role for her in the story. So, I’ve been rewriting fairy tales with a dark haired 3 year old named Mary Beth in a starring role.