One of my favorite lines in a movie was uttered by Jack Nicholson when his character was challenged by his exasperated girlfriend to give her just one good reason why she should stay with him. He answered, “You make me want to be a better man.” She (and the audience) melted at this response and the story had a happy ending. Of course in real life becoming a better person requires more than simply expressing this desire, it also demands some dratic chang... read all »

Justin Martyr was a Samarian Christian who lived in the second century. He was a Platonist philosopher who was converted to Christianity and became a strong defender of the faith. In one of his works, “Apology of the Christian Religion”, written in around 150AD, he describes a typical Christian worship service of that day. “On that day which is called after the sun, all who live in the cities or in the country gather together in one place. Then ... read all »

People of faith...great faith were those who continued serving God even though they couldn’t see the bigger picture. For example, Noah couldn’t understand the ultimate results of the great flood; and Esther couldn’t grasp the longer term implications of saving her people when she did. Joseph, while sitting innocently in jail, couldn’t know the future importance of his role in Egypt and Saul never realized that his unfaithfulness would ultimat... read all »

I remember reading about a church that met at a drive-in movie lot. People would park, clip on the speakers, and honk to say “Amen.” I don’t think there’s a trend here but this is a good example of the “drive-thru religion” mentality. Drive-thru religion is for people who don’t have the church as a final destination; they’re just on their way to somewhere else and picking up some religion for the road. This weekend i... read all »

I’ve lived through several economic recessions, personal upheavals and family challenges in the last 30 years of marriage and ministry. These experiences have taught me several key lessons about living through hard times. Lesson #1 – Always Wait on God When calamity strikes, the temptation is to do something. Governments have to have action plans and we’re always ready to make something happen when there is a crisis. But I’ve learned that t... read all »