I’ll never forget the first time I played paintball. I was prepared. I wore camouflage and had all my protective gear on. I had a plan. I was at the bottom of a long hill on top of which was the enemy flag. I slowly made my way from tree to tree, carefully scouring the […]
Everyone in this life faces trials. They come to rich and poor, young and old, wise and foolish. They are a consequence of living in a fallen world. A trial is anything that tries or tests your character. It can be a flat tire, burnt toast, a river overflowing its banks or a stain on […]
Our lives are full of tests. They start before we have our first day of school. There are admission tests to determine if we’re ready for school. We have medical tests to make sure we are healthy and even residency tests to make sure we are going to the right school. Then as we learn […]
Have you been following the World Cup? It’s hard not to. Even for those of us who aren’t normally soccer fans it’s easy to be interested when the best athletes in the world are competing for the highest prize in their sport. We respect and admire the hard work, training and athleticism that got them […]
A few years back I worked full-time for a computer company. I enjoyed my job but it was just a job. I knew it wasn’t my calling, but it was comfortable and secure. I was involved in ministry on weekends at our church and with teaching Walk Thru the Bible Seminars. One day the company’s […]
Of all of the different types of adversity we face as Christians persecution is perhaps the most difficult to understand. Other types of adversity described in the Bible involve hardship and can involve physical pain, but persecution is unique. Its sole focus is to inflict suffering, injury or death on another because of their faith. […]
In May my wife and I spent a Saturday driving around New York City showing our son where we used to hang out. After lunch we found a parking ticket on our car. I was perplexed since we weren’t parked very long. We read the ticket and discovered I parked too close to a fire […]
One of the most deadly diseases throughout the course of human history is Smallpox. It’s estimated it was responsible for 300-500 million deaths during the 20th century. In 1796 Dr. Edward Jenner discovered it was possible to immunize a person by injecting him with a weakened form of a virus from the same family as […]
An unfortunate but occasional part of life is being personally attacked by others. Personal attacks come in many forms: sarcasm, gossip, complaints, criticism and confrontation. They also come from many sources: coworkers, neighbors, friends, family and even from people we don’t know. What do you do when attacked? The options range from fight to flight […]
In World War II Germany attacked and defeated the Dutch and the Belgians after a six week blitzkrieg. The French formed a new government and quickly surrendered to the Germans. Certain elements of the former government didn’t recognize the legitimacy of the new French government or the surrender. Some left France but many didn’t. Those […]