What Peace Is Not
I buried my head in my pillow. My tears had run dry over the past two days of sobbing over a break-up. I had gone through the various stages of heartbreak, denial, anger and finally acceptance.
All of Me
Young Isaac Watts found the music in his church sadly lacking, and his father challenged him to create something better. Isaac did. His hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” has been called the greatest in the English language and has been translated into many other languages.
Watts’s worshipful third verse ushers us into the presence of Christ at the crucifixion.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
The crucifixion Watts describes so elegantly stands as history’s most awful moment. We…
Praying for others
When a serious need comes up at home or around the world, have you ever felt powerless to do anything about it? Well, there’s One who can intervene in any circumstance! And today on Discover the Word, we return to Paul’s letter to Philemon to see what he says about praying for others. How much […]
“Do You Now Believe?”
“By this we believe….” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?” —John 16:30-31
“Now we believe….” But Jesus asks, “Do you…? Indeed the hour is coming…that you…will leave Me alone” (John 16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their…
From a Distance
Salvador Dalí’s Madonna painting allows you to see different images based on your proximity to the canvas. Viewed up close, the grey and pink dots are abstract, but from a distance of six feet, an image of Mary and Jesus emerge. Viewed from an even greater distance—fifty feet—the painting looks like a giant ear; Dalí called it, “the ear of an angel.”
A Chuckle in the Darkness
In a Washington Post article titled “Tech Titans’ Latest Project: Defy Death,” Ariana Cha wrote about the efforts of Peter Thiele and other tech moguls to extend human life indefinitely. They’re prepared to spend billions on the project.
They are a little late. Death has already been defeated! Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). Jesus assures us that those who put their trust in Him will never, ever, under any circumstances whatever die.
To be clear,…
4 Questions God Asked Me When I Got Attached
For some seven years of my life, I longed to be in a romantic relationship almost every single day. I imagined that a relationship would bring me someone who truly knew and loved me, and vice versa.
Based on a True Story
I told my hairstylist that I was going to see the movie Miracles from Heaven, the story of a young girl who after falling thirty feet headfirst into a hollowed-out tree was miraculously healed of her incurable illness. The stylist had heard it was “based on a true story,” but said that “could simply mean the child fell from a tree.”
The Impoverished Ministry of Jesus
“The well is deep”— and even a great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (John 4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the “wells” in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep “well” of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, “Let not your heart be troubled . . .” (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, “But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even You can’t draw up quietness and comfort out of it.”
“Plea from a Friend”
Today on Discover the Word, we will kick off the second week of their conversation about the apostle Paul’s fascinating first-century letter to his friend Philemon. It’s a fairly short letter with a big message. This week’s discussions focus on a “Plea from a Friend,” so be part of the group on Discover the Word!
Ways to Die for Your Spouse
As a “new husband” trying to score brownie points with my wife (and also because I wanted to get our first Valentine’s Day together right), I had been thinking of ways to “die” for my wife (Ephesians 5:25).
Ring of Invisibility
The Greek philosopher Plato (c. 427–c. 348 bc) found an imaginative way of shining light on the dark side of the human heart. He told the story of a shepherd who innocently discovered a golden ring that had been hidden deep in the earth. One day a great earthquake opened up an ancient mountainside tomb and revealed the ring to the shepherd. By accident he also discovered that the ring had the magical ability to enable the wearer to become invisible at will. Thinking about invisibility, Plato raised this question: If people didn’t have to worry about being caught and…
