“I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house” (Mark 2:11). So often the road to recovery, when we fall down or are in despair, is one small step from feeling to faith.  For example, Jesus comes to us and says, “Love your spouse,” but we look … More Faith or Feeling?

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, You who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Whose habitation is high; You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you ascend as high as … More A Major Message from a Minor Prophet

“O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.” –Hosea 6:4 Many of our so-called friendships resemble the fickleness of gasoline-buyers: For two cents less a gallon, we forsake the station of … More Be a Loyal Friend

Not all prayer is beneficial.  There is a kind of prayer that is simply worrying in God’s presence.  Instead of casting all cares on God, as the word of God commands (1 Peter 5:7), unprofitable prayer merely holds these cares up before God, while refusing to let them go.  If this persists, the mind begins … More When Prayer Makes Me Feel Worse

Spanking is not child abuse. This must be stated right up front, for some parents, in their self-delusion, think that striking a child out of anger is proper discipline.  Not in the least.  Too often, a parent has been lazy in dealing with a misbehaving child, occasionally yelling and threatening the little one, until the … More Spanking Is Biblical

“Until the Spirit be poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.” –Isaiah 32:15 Do you really want to see a change in your life? Not simply a change of style or even in habit, but a fundamental, deep-down change, … More The Missing Ingredient for True Personal Change

Recently I was talking with a woman who was truly troubled over the state of her soul, wondering whether she had strayed so far from the Lord that He was now afflicting her physically, even wondering whether she was truly saved or not.  Not everyone reveals inner struggles so freely as this woman did.  It … More How Can I Be Thankful When I Feel So Low?

One of our members once told me that when his dad was dying, the father confessed, “Son, it shouldn’t be this way.”  He was right.  The world really should not be as the world is.  The world we see is not the world God originally created, nor is it the world that shall be some … More Why Is God's World Messed Up?

“Where sin increased, grace super-abounded.” Romans 5:20 A propensity to sin is not a “weakness.”  When Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” he had in mind the physical limitations of life.  However, the same principle applies even to our sinfulness, but with more caution.  Given the deceitfulness of our heart, it … More Proverbs from Paul for the Spiritually Depressed – Part 4