“Can you see anything?” What a question to ask! Howard Carter’s mouth and eyes were wide open when his aide asked it. His head was stuck into a timeless tomb. Beads of perspiration popped out on the British archaeologist’s brow. For six straight years he had been digging. Endless trenches. Tons of rubble. Huge chunks of worthless debris. Nothing!
Read MoreCategory Archives: Grace
Understanding Grace
Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 What exactly is grace? You may be surprised to know that Jesus never used the word. He just taught it, and, equally important, He lived it. Furthermore, the Bible never gives us a one-statement definition, […]
Read MoreA Message for Misfits
Before he ever came to the plate, Jephthah had three strikes against him. He was an illegitimate child. Strike one. He was the son of a barmaid and a brute. Strike two. He was raised in an atmosphere of hatred and hostility. Strike three. Nurtured in an overcrowded cage of half-brothers, he was the constant target of verbal put-downs and violent profanity.
Read MoreWhat Grace Does
Noise can distract us from the voice of the Spirit, but God often speaks through quiet moments if we give Him room and listen. As a parent it’s rare that I have a quiet moment, yet on one quiet afternoon I’ll always remember, God met me with a renewed perspective of grace. The house was […]
Read MoreCelebrating with My Fellow Felon
Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. (Romans 3:27–28) As I drove to my friends’ house, I […]
Read MoreThe Reason for My Joy
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in […]
Read MoreGenerous with Grace
Before closing off our study of intolerance, two more sayings are worth our attention: The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered. (11:25) The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor,
The wicked does not understand such concern. (29:7)
The Wounds of Intolerance
Is intolerance one of your daily grinds? Be honest. Do you have difficulty leaving room for opinions you don’t agree with or the conduct of those who fail to measure up? I can think of a number of ways intolerance rears its head: The healthy can be impatient with the sickly. The strong have trouble empathizing with the weak. The quick have little patience with the slow.
Read MoreThe Dark Side of Tolerance
The founders of the United States formed this nation on the premise that each individual will one day stand before God and give an answer for his or her beliefs and conduct. The US was in fact the first modern state to establish an official policy of religious tolerance, which it formalized in the first amendment to the Constitution:
Read MoreTolerance at Its Best
In the best Christian sense of the term, tolerance is an important aspect of grace. Tolerance provides “wobble room” for those who struggle to measure up. Tolerance allows growing room for young and restless children. It smiles at rather than frowns on the struggling new believer.
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