Întrebare: Nu-mi place să vin acasă la apartamentul meu. Este rece și întunecat. Primul lucru pe care îl fac este să deschid televizorul doar pentru a auzi niște voci umane. Mănânc singur, butonez canalele, uneori citesc ceva și apoi mă duc la culcare. Am mai fost în relații, însă nici una dintre ele nu a […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Encouragement & Healing
Ce să fac atunci când mă simt singur?
Întrebare: O persoană pe care o consideram a-mi fi prietenă, a bârfit despre mine și sunt foarte rănită de acțiunile ei. I-am spus ceva confidențial, iar ea a spus mai departe aceste lucruri celorlalți prieteni ai mei. Nici nu mai pot merge la biserică. Sunt foarte furioasă pe ea. Nu mai vorbesc cu ea deloc, […]
Read MoreDepresia: speranță pentru zile negre
Unii le numesc „zilele lui Iona”- acele momente în care te simți la pământ, lipsit de capacitatea de a avea o perspectivă pozitivă asupra vieții. Însă, Iona nu a fost singura persoană din Biblie care a suferit de acest gen de depresie. Ilie s-a simțit de asemenea, copleșit. La fel și regele David. Depresia ne […]
Read MoreMusing Over Mistakes
When it comes to mistakes, we need a great deal of tolerance. And a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either. I ran across an embarrassing mistake recently in the sports section of the newspaper. A volleyball coach was being featured, and the article went on and on about her background, superb ability, win-loss record, and style of coaching.
Read MoreCompassion
It was one of those backhanded compliments. The guy had listened to me talk during several sessions at a pastors’ conference. All he knew about me was what he’d heard in the past few days: ex-marine . . . schooled in an independent seminary . . . committed to biblical exposition . . . noncharismatic . . . premil . . . pretrib . . . pro this . . . anti that.
Read MoreWho Cares?
Who really cared? His was a routine admission to busy Bellevue Hospital. A charity case, one among hundreds. A drunken bum from the Bowery with a slashed throat. The Bowery . . . last stop before the morgue.
Read MoreBack-Door Blessing
I had lunch recently with a businessman who runs his own company. As we talked, the subject of wisdom kept popping up in our conversation. So I asked, “How does a person get wisdom? I realize we are to be men of wisdom, but few people ever talk about how it is acquired.” His answer was quick and to the point: “Pain.”
Read MoreWho, Indeed, Knows?
I grew up in the heyday of radio. (Fact is, I didn’t even see a television set until I was a teenager.) If we got our homework done, we could listen to various weeknight radio shows. Remember that spooky line the announcer always gave just before The Shadow came on: “Who knows what evil l-l-lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” Then there would be a blood-curdling laugh, which faded away into the distance. I always liked all the lights on when we listened to that program.
Read MoreDeep Grief
The past couple of weeks have been some of the toughest of my life. My emotions have spanned the spectrum: shock, sorrow, horror, intense anger, disillusionment, disappointment, and utter bewilderment. I have prayed—without much benefit. I have read the Scriptures from the Psalms and Proverbs to the words of Jesus and various sections of the letters from Paul, Peter, James—without much peace.
Read MoreGod’s Sheepdogs
The words of Psalm 23 are very familiar to all of us. Yet, unless we read that psalm through the eyes of a sheep, we will miss its magnificent message. Remember how it concludes? “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (KJV).
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