Born for a Purpose

“I believe!” There is an old story about a man named Boden who strung a line across Niagara Falls. Crowds gathered to watch him risk his life by walking across the line. He would yell down, “Who thinks I can walk across the rope?” “You can do it!” the people responded. And he walked across. “How many of you think I can ride a unicycle across?” “We believe you can do it!” the people shouted. And he did it. “How many of you believe I can put a man in a wheelbarrow and push him across?” asked Boden. “We believe you can do it,” the crowd responded. Then Boden said, “Okay, I need a volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow.” It’s one thing to stand on the ground saying, “I believe!” It’s another to actually demonstrate trust by getting in the wheelbarrow. Have you demonstrated that kind of trust in Jesus? Have you gotten in the wheelbarrow, so to speak, and allowed him to take you into a relationship with the living God? Saving faith begins with knowledge, moves to agreement a...

Pursuing Peace in Our Relationships: A Guide to Romans We learn from the opening verses of Romans that this letter is all about the gospel of God, which centers in his Son. It is the good news of God’s saving grace in Jesus for sinners like me and you. And that good news is all about God’s peace. Paul closes his introduction with this promise and blessing: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” ( Romans 1:7 ). These words come to us as more than mere formalities. They declare life-giving hope to seize and believe. The apostle announces God’s stance—his posture of grace and peace toward us in Christ. Just as the words “loved” and “saints” point back to the designation of God’s people in the Hebrew Scriptures, so this promise of peace calls to mind the great Hebrew word  shalom  and the Old Testament vision of peace, fulfilled in Romans in the person and work of Jesu...

Do the Angels Solve the Problem of Evil? For many skeptics, the problem of evil is the biggest hurdle to believing in God. David Hume put it memorably: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil? Christians have a difficult time with this too, no matter what response we offer. If your answer is free will, then why did God create a world in which, through His foreknowledge, He knew people would reject Him and cause untold suffering? If the answer is “to bring about a greater good,” then why is so much suffering (so much of it seemingly gratuitous) necessary? Dostoevsky’s  Ivan Karamazov  didn’t think either answer satisfying. In one of the most poetic descriptions of the end of time, Ivan imagines the Christian answer: I have a childlike conviction that the sufferings will be healed and smoothed over, that the whole offensive ...

The Heart of Worship In 1999, Christian musician Matt Redman released a song called, “The Heart of Worship” which has since gone on to become one of the most popular hymns in modern churches. No doubt you’ll recognize the following lyrics, “I’ll bring you more than a song, For a song in itself is not what you required. You search much deeper within, Through the way things appear, You’re looking into my heart.” Allegedly, Redman came up with the words for the song when a pastor at his church encouraged the congregation to spend a week worshiping God. The catch: they couldn’t sing. For many people, worship and singing are practically synonymous with one another. Churches typically dedicate half their time to music, a few even have separate services based solely on musical preference. But what happens when you take away the songs and the chants, how do we go beyond the music?             Like  prayer , worship is an int...

Ways to Sense God's Presence... Do you ever feel like God just isn't there? Although our feelings tell us that at times, we shouldn't be driven by our emotions when it comes to our trust in God. Because Scripture says the "righteous shall live by faith" ( Romans 1:17 )  and "without faith it is impossible to please God" ( Hebrews 11:6 ), we shouldn't have to  feel  God to know He's there. But I know how you feel if you find yourself discouraged at times, because it seems like God just isn't around.   Unanswered prayer, a series of disappointing events, or a betrayal by someone close to you can cause you to think that God has checked out of your life. Other times we get so busy with our day-to-day lives that we feel guilty that we're not  doing enough  for Him to want to be around us. But because God has promised He will never leave us or forsake us ( Hebrews 13:5 ),  we can be assured of His constant presence whether we are str...

So the wall was completed on the twenty fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. - Nehemiah 6:15-16 Nehemiah and the builders completed the wall in record time.   But voices of opposition don’t stop when the work is finished. The enemy continued efforts to tear the people down. When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls, hundreds of Jews who had been living in Susa returned with him. Soon it became evident that there wasn’t enough food to go around. Many of the Jews who had been living in Jerusalem had plenty of food but were not willing to share. The prices they put on grain amounted to extortion. Husbands and wives came to Nehemiah and “raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers” ( Nehemiah 5:1 ). Forget the enemy. This was brother versus brother. The great outc...

Dealing with the Voices of Opposition  August 20th, 2013 As Christians, we are going to be faced with doubt, fear and discouragement. We live in a culture of greed. There will be those who threaten us, intimidate us and try to distract us from following hard after Christ. How do we deal with these things that try to tear us down and paralyze us? Here are five things we need to do. 1. Understand your position in Christ. In times of doubt, fear and discouragement the enemy will try to distance us from God. If you are a Christian, understand that you are a treasured child of the living God. That is something you need to remind yourself of constantly. Every thought that contradicts the truth of God’s love needs to be corralled and aligned with the truth in God’s Word. Heed the words of the Apostle Paul, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of Christ, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (...

The Danger of Self-Reliance “Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong — then guide me on the road to eternal life”  -Psalm 139:23-24 (The Message). My little two-year-old grandson and I were hiking on a trail along the coast.  This 8-kilometer hike was a combination of easy and difficult stretches, with one portion of it being described dangerous. I was a vigilant coach. I would pick my grandson up and lift him over difficult sections. Each time his response was, “My do it.” He was determined to walk on his own! And then for a split second, I glanced behind me. When I turned back to look at him, my heart missed a beat! My small apprentice slipped, and was holding onto a tree root while dangling over a 5-meter rocky drop to the ocean. I quickly I lifted him back to safety. Not realizing the danger he just faced, he simply said, “Thanks,...