• Contentment,  Desire

    Four Keys to Contentment: This Present Life

    Contentment is a radical choice these days. Our culture is consumer-based which means that the world continually reminds us of what we do not have. We follow wealthy celebrities in part to experience wealth vicariously. We almost always believe we could handle it better than the shallow but beautiful people who live out their private moments in front of a camera. Contentment is not merely radical these days; it is immoral. If we are not constantly striving to be more, have more, and have a greater impact, then we are copping out. The rat race is a moral imperative for many. I see so many couples working so hard to…

  • Faith,  Miracles,  Peace,  Walking on water

    Courting Miracles: Instructions for Walking on Water

    The problem with miracles, I have found, is that they are easy to forget.  Already I hear dissent.  Unbelievers like to claim that if they were to truly witness a miracle, then and only then would they lay down their unbelief.  But in my experience, miracles don’t even make believers believe.  Consider the Hebrews.  The Red Sea parted for them, and they were led by a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day.  Bread rained down on them. Tangible corporate miracles and yet, no heart change was evident, and only two of the original generation set foot in the Promised Land. I first noticed this tendency for…

  • Featured,  Intervention,  Rescue

    God’s Miraculous and Timely Intervention

    I suppose I was prepped to believe that God’s intervention can happen miraculously by a youth spent devouring the books of evangelists.  These men and women of God proved over and over how He can and does aid those who for whatever reason find themselves caught in unforeseen and overwhelming circumstances. For instance, the story of Nora Lam gave me an understanding of God’s care of the widow and orphan. Her story of staying pregnant for nearly a year while she worked in a hard labor camp in Communist China is gripping. Though I did not expect to need rescue, I was prepared to accept intervention when it came. The…