7 Things God Hates

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” Proverbs [...]

Incomparable

I’ve always been a lover of books. Growing up in the 1950s, my life in MidAmerica was safe, predictable, and often boring. So I found my escape in books. Walking into a library back in those days was intoxicating. I can still remember the smell that assaulted you the minute you walked through the big, [...]

Restoring Our Depleted Souls

It’s human nature to resist what’s in our best interest. Kids resist being put to bed, even when they’re exhausted. Adults ignore health guidelines and indulge in harmful junk foods, even as they complain about not being able to fit into their clothes. We binge-watch shows we’ll soon forget the details of; we spend hours [...]

Feeling the Pressure?

We’re not sure how Jesus was feeling when He said it. Was He sad? Frustrated? Stressed out? Or just lamenting? Whatever the case, it was a heads-up moment for His disciples—a foretaste of what lay ahead for them. In Luke 12:50 Jesus says, “I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under [...]

Hitting the Sweet Spot

If you play tennis, racquetball, squash, baseball, cricket or golf, you know about the “sweet spot.” It’s the location at which the object being struck (usually a ball) absorbs the maximum amount of the available forward momentum and rebounds away from the racket, bat, or club with a greater velocity than if struck in other [...]

History Makers

Most of us long to be significant … to contribute something that’ll make a positive difference in the world. I remember studying psychologist Abraham Maslow’s theory about human motivation when I was in college. His chart—called the hierarchy of needs—was a triangle. The large base was made up of basic physiological needs like breathing, food, [...]

A Cord of Three Strands: Holy Matrimony

My husband and I celebrate our anniversary this month—58 years together! When we started out, things didn’t look very promising. We were living 200 miles apart, so we only knew each other through letters and sporadic weekend visits. With both of us in university, we had no money saved and our career prospects were dubious. [...]

Rights and Responsibilities

Protests and demonstrations are back in the news as many college campuses are being rocked by demands for change. I feel like I’m living in the ‘60s again! It’s become a part of our Western culture for people to take to the streets in an attempt to secure rights for themselves or their favorite group. [...]

Setting Our Hope on Him

Picture the scene with me. Jesus has risen from the dead, validating His claim to be God in the flesh. He’s appeared to more than 500 people in the past 40 days (1 Corinthians 15:6) and now He’s gathered together His remaining disciples to give them their new assignment: something we call the Great Commission. [...]

Be Ye Separate

The words that resonate with our generation are inclusion, tolerance, and diversity. We don’t like the idea of excluding anyone from anything, so we have a hard time digesting (or even understanding) verses in the Bible like these: “Come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy [...]