For those living in America, today is Independence Day, which marks the birth of the nation. When I celebrate today, two thoughts come to mind. “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). “What the people want is very simple – they want an America as good as its promise” (Barbara Jordan). We have daily readers…
A man loved to play golf. But one Saturday, he returned home from a game with a friend much earlier than expected. His wife asked him why his game ended so soon. The man answered, “Would you want to play with someone who whines about every shot, complains constantly about the course, and makes obnoxious…
“Be instant in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). Those were Paul’s words to his closest disciple, in the final chapter of his final letter. He was telling young Timothy to do the right thing, whether he felt like it or not. Oswald Chambers wrote, “If we do only what we feel inclined…
Are you living in God’s sweet spot? Are you walking in the will of God? The answer may not be as clear as you think. Francis Chan said, “It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn’t call you…
“Joab defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom” (I Kings 2:28). Joab had withstood his greatest test, remaining faithful to King David by not following after the fascinating leadership of upstart Absalom. Yet, toward the end of his life, Joab turned away to follow the less attractive leader, Adonijah. He overcame to…
A pastor, a doctor, and an engineer went out for a round of golf. It wasn’t long before they caught up to a group playing ahead of them, that was very slow. When they asked the groundskeeper why the other group was so slow, they were told that all three golfers were blind. The pastor,…
God cares for you enough to never waste your pain. A good friend recently told me that he hopes God can use his past, pain included. I assured him that this is God’s precise plan. God never lets our pain go to waste. Pain is what C.S. Lewis called “God’s great unwanted gift.” Remember a…
Two philosophers went on a camping trip. Tucked away in their sleeping bags for the night, one of them asked the other, “When you look up, what do you see?” His buddy said, “I see thousands of stars.” “And what is the deeper meaning of that to you?” “I think it means somebody stole our…
“He has a good heart.” We hear that a lot. But is it the “heart” that really matters? Said another way, if the heart is good, but our actions don’t align with the desires of our heart, what good is it? We find this revealing description of a little-known king named Asa. “The high places…
President Hubert Hoover died at the age of 90, on October 20, 1964, in his apartment in New York City. The next five days, leading to his burial, were rather typical for a former president. Until one thing. At the burial site five days later, there was one aberration from every other presidential burial in…