It has been said that many cynics were once great optimists. They were once full of hope and optimism, but after too many disappointments, or perhaps one large disappointment, all that hope and optimism was drained and was replaced by pessimism and cynicism. I think Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, may have been such a person.
Should a Christian play video games? Is it benign entertainment? Is it somehow sinful? Does it stunt spiritual growth? Does it help spiritual growth?
It has been my experience that most of the Christian life takes place in the wilderness, not the Promised Land. That is, it is much more common to be struggling (spiritually) in one form or another or to one degree or another than it is to be sitting back and relaxing. One of the reasons for this is that spiritual growth requires work and effort, which means there will likely be a lot of struggling and failing. Another, and often overlooked reason I think, is injustice. Times when God does not do what he has promised to do.
The Way of Life leads to perfection, but we often bumble and stumble as we follow it. Sometimes we may even veer off it. Whether we blunder or flat-out leave the Way of Life repentance is a necessary part of the Christian life.
Sometimes the storms of life can be quite devastating, even if you “prepared” for them. Devastating to the point that after it has passed we take a look at our life or faith or both and we are left wondering how, or even if, we will be able to rebuild it. This task can indeed be quite difficult, but it is also doable even though it might take a while.
Hurricanes are a fact of life for me as Floridian. Every season (June 1 – Nov. 30) for us Floridians it’s not a matter of if we will get a hurricane, but when we will get a hurricane and how badly we will be affected by it. Sometimes we just get some rain. Other times we get a lot of rain. Still other times we get a bunch of both wind and rain. In light of this reality the prudent among us start gradually stocking up on supplies (e.
Is the path that leads to salvation narrow? That is how some English translations (KJV, NASB) translate Matthew 7.13-14 and do indeed call the path that leads to life narrow. However, this translation, I think, does not really capture what is really being said in these verses.
One of the barriers, I think, that prevents people from getting into a daily Bible reading habit is that they don’t understand what they are reading. And since they don’t understand they don’t benefit from it. And not benefitting from it they stop doing it entirely. This is unfortunate because I think it can be avoided completely. This post will discuss some ways to break down this barrier.
