Not to Worry…He’s Risen!

On the day Jesus was crucified, a sinister darkness blotted out the sun and smothered Jerusalem under a blanket of evil. It would have appeared to anyone seeing through eyes of flesh that the darkness, the devil, and death had defeated the Son of God once and for all. I will admit to you that […]

Read More

Holding on Loosely

Shortly before her death, Corrie ten Boom attended our church. Following the service I met briefly with her, anxious to express my wife’s and my love and respect for her faithful example. She inquired about my family . . . how many children, their ages—that sort of thing. She detected my deep love for each […]

Read More

Hope Beyond Failure

Rarely will one of God’s heroes show up in the Scriptures having lived a life free of failure. Take Peter, for example. As soon as you read the name, you remember his story. Peter experienced the extreme highs and lows of life—from days spent in blessed fellowship with Christ . . . to the heart-wrenching […]

Read More

Getting Past Guilt: Overcoming Barriers to Feeling Forgiven

Puritan minister Richard Baxter warned about the emotional toll of carrying unnecessary guilt: “That sorrow, even for sin, may be overmuch. That overmuch sorrow swalloweth one up.”1 In his wonderful old English, Reverend Baxter captured the feelings of people who have not experienced forgiveness. Grief over past sins plunges them into a depth of sorrow. […]

Read More

Marital Grace

So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. —Ephesians 5:33 NLT The more the grace of God is awakened in a marriage, the less husbands will attempt to control and restrict and the less wives will feel the need to “please no […]

Read More

Reality Check

The older I get, the less excited I am about theory . . . and the more I care about reality. Who cares if the stuff that flows from my pen stimulates the intellect and gives folks fodder for philosophizing? So what if these words tickle ears and answer questions nobody is asking? Provocative, relevant, […]

Read More

Passive Men, Wild Women

That phrase, Passive Men, Wild Women, isn’t original. It comes from psychiatrist Pierre Mornell, MD, whose book bears that title. It’s a good book, written in 1979, but you’d think the ink was still wet. The issue that concerns Dr. Mornell is as prevalent as it is relevant. And it is found in Christian marriages just […]

Read More

Hope Beyond the Hurt

I got the call one cold February afternoon. My father said, “Son, I think your mother is gone.” The news took me completely by surprise. “Gone? Do you mean dead?” I asked. “Yes, I think she’s dead.” I hurried over to my parents’ apartment in Dallas. My sister had arrived before me and was talking […]

Read More

Despite Your Circumstances

Few people in the first century had a deeper understanding of God’s grace than the apostle Paul. Redeemed from a life of vicious brutality as a rigid legalistic Pharisee, the man turned the corner, repented, and through Christ’s empowering became a gentle soul, gracious and affirming. Understanding. Forgiving. Approachable. He reached the place where he […]

Read More