Enjoying the Journey
Posts Tagged ‘questions’
5 Books To Read For Answers
Ours is an age of questions, skeptics, and debate. Paul described the last days well when he wrote, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). This is a day for believers to know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to express it to others. Apologetics is the defense of truth. I agree with Spurgeon that the gospel is like a caged lion – it does not need to be defended so much as we simply need to open the cage door and let it out! Or to use an athletic analogy, the best defense is a good offense. Truth faithfully preached and taught will convince and convict. The…
Read More“Living My Truth”
The highlight story in a major magazine carried this title: “Living My Truth.” It was the story of a transgender airline pilot who proudly boasted that he was now living his own truth. My heart broke as I read the words of a man who had believed a lie but had convinced himself that he was living in truth. This is a mark of an apostate age – people have turned from revealed truth (Romans 1:18-25; Jude 4-10). When sin comes out blatantly and boldly it is not an expression of truth, it is evidence of rebellion. The fear of God is gone. There is no such thing as “my truth” or “your truth.” There is only truth, and all…
Read MoreQuestions You Can’t Answer
Why did Jesus wait until He was 30 years of age to begin His ministry when He was so full of wisdom at the age of 12? Why did the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus only last three and a half years when He could have lived a long, full life? Why in those three and a half years did He not go everywhere, heal everyone, do everything He could have done? There are many things we do not know and some things we cannot answer. One thing is sure. At the end of His short life He said to His Father, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). So often sincere believers…
Read MoreHow To Keep the Next Generation
A fellow preacher and personal friend asked me recently how I believed we could do a better job of retaining young people in our churches. It is a problem of epidemic proportions. The vast majority of young people are exiting the local church by the time they are eighteen. For many years I said to prospective youth workers that we must get young people connected to more than the youth group. It is my conviction that, as early in life as possible, young people must find their place in the church. It must be their church. The pastor must be their pastor. And some work for the Lord must be their ministry. This cannot begin when they graduate from high…
Read More3 Truths to Remember When You Are Disappointed
Life in a fallen world is full of disappointments. Situations don’t always turn out the way you hope. The best people let you down. Your own intentions fail to become reality. It is easy for disappointment to become disillusionment. Perhaps this is why there are so many cynical people in our world. The question is not if disappointments will come, but how you will respond when they do. When you face some disappointment remember these truths: The greatest disappointment is sin. It never fulfills what it promises. When tempted to think that others have let me down or that things did not turn out my way, I try to remember that most disappointments are of my own making. Selfishness. Wrong motives.…
Read MoreThe Book That Saves the World
A few weeks ago I picked up a copy of the Wall Street Journal in a hotel. As I was breezing quickly through the sections my eyes fell on something I could not believe. At the bottom of one page was an ad with this startling header: “THE BOOK THAT SAVES THE WORLD.” The advertisement was for a book written by a biologist. Listen to this description… Presents the reconciling and psychologically helping biological explanation of our ‘good and evil’ stricken human condition. In doing so it unravels the mystery behind human behavior and ends suffering and conflict at its source – providing the now urgently needed road map for the complete transformation of our lives and world. Our problem…
Read MoreWhen Young People Ask Hard Questions
Questions are opportunities to teach. God gave explicit instructions to Israel about what to say when your children ask (Deuteronomy 6:20-25). And ask they will! All of us who have young people in our homes are well acquainted with the question, “Why?” It is the way we answer that determines the outcome. Recently I allowed the young people in our Academy to submit anonymously questions that have troubled them. I was overwhelmed by the response. Sincere questions and concerns. Some doctrinal, some personal – family, eternity, morality, God, the Bible, and relationships. We have since tried to schedule chapel speakers who could address specific topics that are on their minds. Questions cannot be ignored. In fact, they should be encouraged.…
Read MoreOne of Life’s Greatest Questions: Where Is God?
Life is full of questions. One of the first questions children ask about God is a question that continues into theological discussions of people of all ages. Ask a child, “Where is God?” and you will see them point up. Heaven! God is in Heaven. And so He is. Almighty God sits on the throne of the universe, ruling the good and overruling the evil. No matter how bad things may get we must never forget that God has not abdicated His throne. Ask a theologian, “Where is God?” and they will point all around. He is everywhere. The God of the Bible is omnipresent – everywhere at the same time. The Lord is not bound by geography, time, or…
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