If you were to do a little fun research to discover the sheer quantity of activities that happen each day in America, you’d be amazed. Consider, for example, the number of cups of coffee consumed, the number of babies born, the number of people who take a taxi, bury a pet, get divorced, go to the hospital, watch prime-time television, ride on an airplane, and go to school.
Read MoreTag Archives: Matthew
Is Trauma Terminal?
The definition reflects devastation. Trauma: An injury (as a wound) to living tissue caused by an extrinsic agent . . . a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from mental or emotional stress. Like potatoes in a pressure cooker, we twenty-first century creatures understand the meaning of stress. A week doesn’t pass without a few skirmishes with those “extrinsic agents” that beat upon our fragile frames.
Read MoreIdols, Part One
It was the apostle John’s final warning to his readers: Little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21) “Watch out,” said John, in effect. “Be on guard against anything that might occupy the place in your heart that should be reserved for God.” John never qualified that warning. The aged apostle deliberately refrained from classifying the idols or giving us a comprehensive list to follow.
Read MoreTeenage Turbulence
While I was away for a couple weeks of vacation many years ago, I read a book by David Elkind describing the staggering number of teenagers who lack the adult guidance and support they need to make a healthy transition into adulthood. His choice of title was appropriate: All Grown Up and No Place to Go. The book goes to the heart of the issue and addresses the breakdown of parental security and stability.
Read MorePutting First Things First
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth . . . . But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:24, 33) Our Father, we confess that placing Jesus first in our lives precludes competition from all other loyalties:
Read MoreOvercoming Hypocrisy
“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.” (Matthew 6:1 MSG) Lord God, we thank You for the model of Jesus Christ our Savior who, when He walked this earth, dripped with authenticity.
Read MoreDestination Unknown
DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING? You remember Thomas Henry Huxley. Devoted disciple of Charles Darwin. Famous biologist, teacher, and author. Defender of the theory of evolution. Bold, convincing self-avowed humanist. Traveling lecturer. After another series of public assaults against truths Christians held sacred, Huxley was in a hurry to catch his train to the next city.
Read MoreWhen You Grow Up
“WHAT DO YOU WANT TO be when you grow up?” The answers we receive are all over the map. One youngster recently told me he wanted to be either a car mechanic or a garbage collector. When I asked why, he gave the classic nine-year-old response: “So I can get dirty!” I smiled and understood as I reflected on my own childhood.
Read MoreI, Me, Mine, Myself
THOSE FOUR WORDS stood out in bold print. They appeared as if they were forming an enormous monument, each letter seemingly chiseled out of granite. At the base of this strange “monument” were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people with their arms stretched high, as if worshiping at a shrine. And then, in very small letters, this caption appeared at the bottom of the editorial cartoon: “Speaking of American cults . . .”
Read MoreThe Way Up Is Down
JOURNEY BACK WITH ME for a moment to one of the many scenes that demonstrated just how ordinary Jesus’ disciples were. What makes this account interesting is that mother of two of the disciples. She’s Mrs. Zebedee, wife of a Galilean fisherman and mother of James and John. Her bold request still makes me smile:
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