Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
One of the most common questions I receive from blog readers has to do with counseling/discipleship “homework” or what some of us prefer to call growth assignments or growth projects. Since many of the people we minister to are suffering
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About twenty years ago, I was a bitter Christian. As far as I can tell, it all began around the time we made an offer to purchase a big farmhouse in the country. We had just spent five years renovating
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In Psalm 46, God gives us specific counsel so that we may know how to respond to unwelcome change. See if you can spot any of the encouragement the Holy Spirit placed in this psalm for you. Grab a pencil
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Sometimes God’s ways are hard to understand, We want to ask “Why?”—to follow His hand. Sometimes when tragedy comes from above, It tempts us to waver, to doubt His love. But God is infinitely wise and good, He is too
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What do Jesus, the prophet Isaiah, and David the king have in common? They all taught this simple truth: God is working while we are waiting; God is active when we’re sleeping. What a wonderful truth in times of uncertainty,
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Sometimes we wonder if God can bring good out of the bad things happening all around us, so it’s comforting to know we are not alone in our thinking. The prophet Habakkuk had the same heart struggles and questions. But
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The world is shaken, taken off guard and turned upside down by a microscopic virus that doubles the number of its victims every six days. It began only three months ago, but has now infected over 152,000, with the number
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When I was a sophomore in high school, I learned how to drive a car. After I passed the required driver’s education class that fall semester, I enrolled in the behind-the-wheel part of the training. Learning to drive my dad’s
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Joni Eareckson Tada has given us many books on the subject of God’s tender care for His children in times of suffering. She strikes the chord of authenticity with us so well, because suffering is the world she lives in
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For the Baby I Didn’t Get to Hold – This choked me up. Even if you have not experienced miscarriage or stillbirth, you need to read this so that you learn to be compassionate, to weep with those who weep.
Continue readingIs it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? (Lamentations 3:38) Most people find it pretty easy to accept that the good things which happen are from the hand of a good God. But
Continue readingIf our conception of God is that He is only—or predominantly—love, and by that we mean only doing what we perceive as being good; i.e. whatever does not involve pain, then irrational suffering tempts us to change our view of
Continue readingOne of the lesser known Jewish holidays reminds us of the big picture of God’s redemption plan. It’s called the Feast of Purim, and is inaugurated at the end of the book of Esther. Purim literally means “lots” and gets
Continue readingSome Scriptures seem to say God changes His mind: And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart (Gen. 6:6). So the Lord changed His mind about the harm
Continue readingThe Lord is lord of all. Whether rain or snow, cold or heat, wind or stagnant air, hurricane or calm, the Lord is the one who continues to uphold all of creation by His mighty power. It is Jesus Christ
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The book of Jonah contains one of the most famous of all Bible stories, which is the historical account of a rebellious prophet who is swallowed by a great fish, gets vomited onto the beach, and then preaches an eight-word
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As God performs his sanctifying work in us—conforming us to the image of his Son, “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2)—there will be times when answers to prayer seem out of all possible reach. When we try
Continue reading“Psalm 73 contains one of the most rhapsodic [emotionally expressive] and uplifting passages in the whole Psalter, and, indeed, there is hardly need for anything beyond letting their rhythms and sentiments sink into our souls.” So writes Alec Motyer in
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By God’s grace, I’m a husband, dad, grandpa, and pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Hts, OH. I love Christ because He first loved me.
