Author: Administrador

Topics: Children; Depravity; Evil; Parenting; Teens; Terrorism; Threats References: Exodus 11:4–8; Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2; 19:43–44 The “Beltway Sniper,” John Allen Muhammad, was convicted in May 2006 in Maryland for murdering six people. He had already been sentenced to death in Virginia for murders committed there. However, during the trial, some frightening information … Continue reading “BELTWAY
SNIPER’S NEXT TARGET”

Topics: Addiction; Bondage; Depravity; Emptiness; Foolishness; Freedom; Powerlessness; Rebellion; Will References: John 8:31–36; Romans 6:5–7, 16–18, 21–23; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:1, 13; James 1:25; 1 Peter 2:16 A man who robbed a bank ten years ago and was sentenced to seventy months in a federal penitentiary decided he liked prison life so much that … Continue reading “STEALING
BACK TO JAIL”

Topics: Compromise; Holiness; Self-control; Spiritual Disciplines; Tolerance Reference: 1 Thessalonians 5:1–10 People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift … Continue reading “DRIFTING
FROM HOLINESS”

Topics: Hardship; Oppression; Persecution; Suffering Reference: 2 Corinthians 6:3–10 If you become an evangelical Christian in Laos, the communist neighbor of Vietnam and Cambodia, you likely will be “asked” to fill out and sign a form, which says, in part: I, [name], who live in [location], believe in a foreign religion, which the imperialists have … Continue reading “RENOUNCING
CHRISTIANITY”

Topics: Dishonesty; Lying; Truthfulness References: Exodus 20:16; Ephesians 4:14–15 Lawyers are increasingly bending the truth, not telling the whole truth, or just plain lying. So said more than fifty state and federal judges, lawyers, and academics surveyed by the ABA Journal. “On the basis of my academic and professional experience, I believe that no felony … Continue reading “LYING
LAWYERS”

Topics: Fear; Prayer; Protection; Spiritual Perception; Trust Reference: 2 Timothy 4:17–18 When Focus on the Family was in its early stages and our children were young, my husband, Jim, traveled often. I had grown accustomed to his absences and was never really frightened while he was away. Except once. One night about 2:00 a.m., I … Continue reading “FEAR
IN THE NIGHT”

Topics: Despair; Fear; Worry Reference: Matthew 11:28–30 “I have been dying since October. I wake up at night so afraid, so terrified, that I couldn’t be that afraid while awake. It has taken its toll. I have come to hate this life and this system of things. I have come to have no hope.” So … Continue reading “KILLER’S
REMORSE”

Topics: Apology; Conflict; Negligence; Reconciliation; Relationships; Self-control; Tongue; Unity; Words References: Proverbs 16:27; James 3:1–12 More than a thousand firefighters battled a wildfire for two weeks in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The fire started August 24, 2000, and was not contained until September 8. Meanwhile, more than eighty thousand acres of valuable timber … Continue reading “WILDFIRE
OF WORDS”

Topics: Evil; Hatred; Human Condition; Human Nature; Inexplicability of Evil; Sin; Violence References: Romans 1:18–32; 3:9–20 Former United Nations leader Kofi Annan traveled the world visiting areas of some of the worst violence and cruelty in human history. He often wonders about man’s cruelty to man. “I’m still struggling with evil,” he says. “I still … Continue reading “DUMBFOUNDED
BY EVIL”

Topics: Children; Holiness; Human Condition; Lostness; Sin; Sinful Nature References: Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10–23 I was sitting at my desk in my study after having scolded my daughter, four, for misbehaving. I heard a gentle knock on the door. “Come in,” I said. Bethany matter-of-factly said, “Daddy, sometimes I am good, and sometimes I am … Continue reading “JUST
THE WAY IT IS”