The word picture of an anchor is used often in ancient literature, but it’s used only once in the New Testament in picturing hope as an anchor for our soul. Lots of hymns and gospel songs make use of this anchor metaphor.
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The Hope You Need
Somewhere along the many miles of southern California shoreline walked a young, 20-year-old woman with a terminal disease in her body and a revolver in her hand. She had called me late one evening. We talked for a long time.
Read MoreShifting the Stress by Prayer and Rest
If you tend to get caught up in the hurry-worry sindrome, there is a better way to live. In Parts One through Three we talked about some strategies for alleviating stress. Prayer is another relief—an essential therapy during stressful times. I’m reminded of David on one occasion. He and a group of his men returned home after a weary three-day journey.
Read MorePerspective
What is perspective? Well, it’s obviously related to the way we view something. The term literally suggests “looking through . . . seeing clearly.” One who views life through perspective lenses has the capacity to see things in their true relations or relative importance. He sees the big picture. She is able to distinguish the incidental from the essential . . . the temporary from the eternal . . . the partial from the whole . . . the trees from the forest.
Read MoreHoudini’s Secret, Part One
Erich Weiss was a remarkable man. By the time of his death he was famous around the world. Never heard of him, huh? Maybe this will help. He was born of Hungarian-Jewish parentage at Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1874. He became the highest-paid entertainer of his day. That still doesn’t help much, does it? This will. When he finally got his act together, Weiss adopted a stage name: Harry Houdini . . .
Read MoreCan’t . . . or Won’t? Part One
No offense, but some of you don’t have any business reading this today. Normally, I do not restrict my words to any special group of people. But now I must. This time it is for Christians only. Everything I write from now to the end of these readings on excuses is strictly for the believer in Christ. If you’re not there yet, you can skip parts one and two because you lack a major ingredient: the power of God.
Read MoreAn ”Affair,” Part Two
In Part One, we acknowledged that our society has embraced a subtle lie about affairs, believing that not only is the grass greener on the other side, it’s acceptable to hop the fence. What’s more, believers are just as likely as nonbelievers to do the hopping. But infidelity isn’t an “affair,” remember; it’s adultery. And it’s deadly to a marriage. Robert J. Levin and Alexander Lowen noted three specific ways.
Read MoreDoes Anyone Care?
ON THAT ICY JANUARY MORNING, in a twenty-five-cent-a-night flophouse, a shell of a man who looked twice his age staggered to the washbasin and fell. The basin toppled and shattered. He was found lying in a heap, unclothed and bleeding from a deep gash in his throat. His forehead was badly bruised, and he was semiconscious.
Read MoreFinish Well
We have reached the end of another year and now face a new one. When we stood in this same spot 364 days ago, we looked ahead to what the Lord was going to teach us in the coming year and we anticipated the many ways we were going to see Him at work in our lives.
Read MoreResentment
Leo Held was a paragon of respectability. He was a middle-aged, hard-working lab technician who had worked at the same Pennsylvania paper mill for nineteen years. Having been a Boy Scout leader, an affectionate father, a member of the local fire brigade, and a regular church-goer, he was admired as a model in his community. Until . . .
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