Results

God's missing and they think we did it!

STUNNED BY GRACE by Max Lucado I've never been surprised by God's judgment, but I'm still stunned by his grace. God's judgment has never been a problem for me. In fact, it always seemed right. Lightning bolts on Sodom. Fire on Gomorrah. Good job, God. Egyptians swallowed in the Red Sea. They had it coming.…

If a hungry person were at your door and asked for bread, you would give it to him, whatever might be his character. You will also give your child food, whatever may be his behavior. You will not deny your child anything that is necessary for life; you will never proceed in any course of discipline against…

I know an old friend who used to tell me that for 60 years he had never known a day’s illness. A splendid healthy old man he was, but about three months ago he took typhoid fever. I went to see him, and when he got better he came to see me. He said, “Well, sir, you see I am not the man I was, but I have…

We despise the chastening of the Lord when we despise those that God chastens. You say, “Poor old Mrs. So-and-so. The last seven years she has been bedridden; what is the good of her in the church? Would it not be a mercy if she were dead? We always have to be keeping her—someone or other giving her…

A tree of common fruit may be let alone so long as there is some little fruit on it, but the very best fruit gets the sharpest pruning. I have noticed that in those countries where the best wine is made, the vinedressers cut the shoots right close in, and in the winter you cannot tell that there is a…

THE STORY I was born in 1725, and I died 1807. The only godly influence in my life, as far back as I can remember, was my mother, whom I had for only seven years. When she left my life through death, I was virtually an orphan. My father remarried, sent me to a strict military school, where the severity…

If a grandfather of ours should die and leave us five hundred pounds, what a merciful providence that would be! If by something strange in business we were suddenly to accumulate a fortune, that would be a blessed providence! If an accident happens, and we are preserved, and our limbs are not hurt, that…

A man takes a mass of metal. It appears to you very pure, and very beautiful to look at. It is alloyed. He puts it into his refining pot, he heats the coals, and he begins to stir it. You say to him, “What are you doing? You are spoiling that precious metal. See how foul the surface is! What a scum floats…

He who stands in the thickest part of the battle shall have the highest glory at last. The old warriors would not stand and skirmish a little on the outside of the army, but would say, “To the center, men! To the center!” And they cut through thick and thin until they reached the place where the standard…

When I first began to preach, I am afraid that I used to say a great many strange things—which, of course, I do not do now. But having, on a certain occasion, said something rather striking and perhaps not quite wise, there was an excellent Christian man who wanted to set me right. He did not come and…

It is like John Bunyan’s parable of Passion and Patience in Pilgrim’s Progress. Passion would have his best things first; Patience would have his best things last. Passion had all his best things, and laughed at Patience as Patience sat there. But after a while, Passion had used up all his best things…

We never find Adam afraid of God or of any manifestation of Deity while he was in Paradise an obedient creature. But no sooner had he touched the fatal fruit than he found that he was naked, and hid himself. When he heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, Adam was…

In You'll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times, Max Lucado writes, “Don’t see your struggle as an interruption to life but as preparation for life. No one said the road would be easy or painless. But God will use this mess for something good.” You’ll Get Through This, page 55 Hebrews…

Many people like to start the day with a hot shower or a cup of coffee. A survey conducted by One Poll, found many Americans report they no longer have a set morning routine and as a result they experience feelings of confusion each day, and 81 percent say they feel “off.” The company that commissioned…

In 2013, Ethan Couch killed four people and seriously injured two others while driving drunk. In his defense, a psychologist testified that Couch was a victim of parents who never set limits for him and coined the word “affluenza” to describe what happens to a child who grows up without proper parental…

In their book, No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer write, “The more people heard what they could do better, the better everyone got at their jobs, the better we performed as a company.” —No Rules Rules, 15 Proverbs 15:31–33 (CSB) One who listens to life-giving…

In their book, No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer write, “Feedback helps us to avoid misunderstandings, creates a climate of co-accountability, and reduces the need for hierarchy and rules.” —No Rules Rules, 22 Proverbs 15:31–33 (CSB) One who listens to…

Sometimes when we look around at others, we get the idea that everybody else is better off, and have a better life that we do. Social media exaggerates this feeling as we see the people with their perfect families, beautiful homes, and fantastic jobs they post online. “But the truth is,” says Joshua…

Some of us are always looking for a shortcut to physical fitness. Now there are some possible solutions on the horizon. Scientists are testing compounds that they can put into a pill to produce the same effects as exercise. One proposed pill would give us more endurance and weight control, without the…

Peter Messervy-Gross, A 47-year-old British man went to Mongolia to run a 100-mile ultra-marathon across a frozen lake. When he arrived for the race he discovered the airline had lost his bags. He didn’t have any of his specialized gear, but his passion for running took over and he ran the race in his…

Vince Lombardi, the former head coach of the Green Bay Packers, emphasized going over the fundamentals in his training camp. He would repeatedly go over football basics like block and tackle, and review his plays over and over again from page 1. Through this method of building on a strong basic foundation,…

In an interview with George Plimpton in The Paris Review, author E. L. Doctorow was talking about the discipline of writing, but the point can be made for just about any discipline. It is important to realize that we cannot always see the end from the beginning. We must use discipline to keep at a task…

The movie “Groundhog Day” tells the story of TV weatherman Phil Connors as he relived a single day over and over again. This lighthearted comedy sees Connors, played by Bill Murray, go from confused, to annoyed, to suicidal, to resigned, and finally to teachable. As the movie progresses, he finally learns…