Guaranteed Future
One day my friend Arthur Lewis, an expert in biblical Greek, was walking along the streets of Athens. Accompanying him was a professor who teaches Greek. They stopped occasionally to read the signs in shop windows.
Turned Upside Down
In G. K. Chesterton's biographical sketch of St. Francis of Assisi, he describes a time when Francis felt deep discouragement and a sense of failure. He emerged from that experience looking at the world "as differently from other men as if he had come out of that dark hole walking on his hands."
Awesome, Not Frightening
I was a private in the Army medical corps when I was told that the colonel in charge wanted to see me. I became very nervous because I had never talked with such a high-ranking officer. I wondered why he wanted to talk to me and hoped I could display a bit of poise in his presence.
Bibles And Buckets
At a women's retreat, one person was carrying a Bible and a bucket. It's easy to understand why she was carrying the Bible, but why the bucket? With a twinkle in her eye, she explained, "The bucket reminds me to draw all the living water I possibly can." Pointing to a crack in the bucket, she said, "Like me, my bucket leaks, reminding me to keep coming back to the Lord for more!"
Swimming With Sharks
A crewman on a South Seas fishing vessel found himself in the kind of situation no one ever wants to be—swimming with sharks!
Call It Sin!
A professional baseball player was suspended from the team when the coach learned that he was addicted to cocaine. He told reporters that his drug abuse wasn't his fault; he had the disease of chemical dependency.
Hold Me—It Hurts!
Suffering can become so intense at times that we don't know how we can take any more pain. It's in these moments that Jesus reassures us of His presence and sustains us, even though for reasons we do not understand the hurt is not taken away.
When Good Turns Bad
People often find ways to turn something good into something bad. It even happens in churches. Perhaps a person at first lives by God's teachings but then lets power or fear change him into a source of trouble. Or maybe a church program that began with the right intentions gets sidetracked by the jealousy or anger or lack of wisdom of the people running the program. When these things happen, it takes someone with a heart for God, the courage of convictions, and wisdom from the Holy Spirit to confront the problem.
Whose Business?
What Jesus said as a boy of 12 should be echoed by every believer: "I must be about My Father's business" (Lk. 2:49). Yet how many who claim to be God's children by faith in Christ are actively engaged in the service of God their Father?
