The hour of 1:00 a.m. comes every night, but there’s one 1:00 a.m. I’ll never forget. While you were likely sound asleep, I was wide awake . . . talking to God like mad! I was aboard a small twin-engine plane with a seasoned pilot, rapidly descending through a foggy, dense overcast at 200 miles […]
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What Can Help Me Beat the Blues?
Question: I’m usually not a depressed person, but lately I feel like I’ve been walking around in a dark cloud. Nothing interests me, and I’m tired all the time. Everything is a chore! I don’t like my work, and life just isn’t fun anymore. What can I do to break out of this funk? Answer: […]
Read MoreMan’s Quest
Look across your office desk tomorrow and chances are you’ll be observing a living example of someone still searching, still running to find inner satisfaction. Step out in front of your apartment or home tomorrow morning and look both ways . . . listen to the roar of automobiles . . . study the dwellings surrounding you. Those sights and sounds represent people who have, like Little Bo-Peep’s sheep, “lost their way,” and, tragedy upon tragedy—they don’t know where to find it.
Read MoreKeeping Your Word
March 11, 1942, was a dark, desperate day at Corregidor. The Pacific theater of war was threatening and bleak. One island after another had been buffeted into submission. The enemy was now marching into the Philippines as confident and methodical as the star band in the Rose Bowl parade. Surrender was inevitable.
Read MoreStumbling
Nothing damages our dignity like stumbling! I have seen people, dressed to the hilt, stumble and fall flat on their faces as they were walking to church. I have witnessed serious and gifted soloists, stepping up to the pulpit with music in hand, stumble and fall as the sheets of music sailed like maple leaves in an October breeze.
Read MoreQuietness
It is almost 10:00, Monday night. The children are snoozing and snoring upstairs (or they should be!). Aside from a few outside noises—a passing car . . . a barking dog . . . a few, faint voices in the distance—all’s quiet on the home front. That wonderful, much-needed presence has again come for a visit—quietness. Oh, how I love it . . . how I need it.
Read MoreMemorizing Scripture
I know of no other single practice in the Christian life that’s more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. That’s right. No other single discipline is more useful and rewarding than this. No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your counseling will be in demand. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified.
Read MoreReconciling Unforgiveness
Jesus tells us to stop praying for forgiveness until we’ve made things right with people we need to forgive or ask forgiveness from. I believe most of us try to do that. But what if it is impossible for me to reconcile because the offended person has died? It’s impossible to get a hearing, but your conscience remains seared.
Read MoreBeing Holy
Our fast-lane living these days does not lend itself to the traits we have traditionally attached to godliness. Remember the old hymn we sang in church years ago? “Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; abide in Him always and feed on His Word . . . . Take time to be holy, the world rushes on.”
Read MoreTiming
In September, Terry Shafer was strolling the shops in Moline, Illinois. She knew exactly what she wanted to get her husband, David, for Christmas. A little shop on Fifth attracted her attention, so she popped inside. Her eyes darted toward the corner display. “That’s it!” she smiled as she nodded with pleasure. “How much?” she asked the shopkeeper.
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