Sharing Your Testimony

A time-honored, effective method of evangelism is your personal testimony. Just telling about your spiritual pilgrimage. The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church, but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been cleaned up and revolutionized.

Responsibility

One of George Bernard Shaw’s statements frequently flashes through my mind: “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.” In a day when most people pass the buck with merely a shrug, those words bite and sting. It’s one thing to sing and dance to liberty’s tunes, but it’s something else entirely to bear the responsibility for paying the band.

Predicaments

Ah, those predicaments . . . life is full of them. Often they are of our own making. Other times they just seem to happen mysteriously to us. Occasionally, predicaments are comical or borderline crazy. Sometimes they can be irritating and troublesome. But one thing is for sure: Predicaments are unpredictable. And embarrassing. And confusing. And really weird.

Gumption

We don’t hear much about gumption anymore. Too bad, since we need it more than ever these days. I was raised on gumption (my parents also called it “spizzerinctum”)—as were my own children, especially when I was trying to motivate them.

Reconciling Unforgiveness

Jesus tells us to stop praying for forgiveness until we’ve made things right with people we need to forgive or ask forgiveness from. I believe most of us try to do that. But what if it is impossible for me to reconcile because the offended person has died? It’s impossible to get a hearing, but your conscience remains seared.

On Being Confidential

Be honest now, can you keep a secret? When privileged information passes through one of the gates of your senses, does it remain within the walls of your mind, or is it only a matter of time before a leak occurs? Do you respect a person’s trust or ignore it, either instantly or ultimately?

A Matter of Obedience

Leading can be awfully lonely and terribly frustrating. I haven’t always believed that. Fact is, when I was a starry-eyed seminary student back around ’59 and ’60, I had this crazy idea that a leader lived a charmed life. Especially a spiritual leader.

Ragged Rocks of Adversity

Try to make time this weekend to read the entire book of Job, for only then do you really see the true extent of Job’s honest dealings with God and his steadfast faith in the face of adversity.

Handling Adversity

Step into the time tunnel with me, and let’s travel together back to Uz (not the wizard of, but the land of). Wherever it was, Uz had a citizen who was respected by everyone. Why? Because he was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and clean living. He had ten children, thousands of head of livestock, acres and acres of land, a great many servants, and a substantial stack of cash.

Giving Is Godlike

Shortly after World War II, the saddest sight for American soldiers who were picking up the pieces in ravaged Europe, was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities.

Category Archives: Christian Living