We’ve all heard of, known of and maybe even been one ourselves – backsliders.  In our minds we have a visual definition of a backslider – one who starts sitting closer and closer to the back, then starts coming in late and sits in the back, then starts leaving early from the back, then comes late and leaves early from the back,…

I’m not sure who coined the phrase, “In it to win it,” but it is one of those sayings that I find annoying and nonsensical.  I’ve heard American Idol judges say about a contestant, “He’s in it to win it.”  Hello!  Of course, he is!  Why would he be there otherwise? I’ve heard football commentators say, “They’re in it to win it.” …

When we think about starting over, it is not with great joy and anticipation that we do it.  When we’ve lost our job and we have to start over…when we’ve lost our home and we have to start over…when we’ve lost a lifelong mate and we have to start over…when we’ve lost everything in a financial collapse and we have to start…

As you evaluate the past year of your life, how would you rate it?  Was it a good year?  Was it a bad year?  Was it an about-normal year?  Was it an above-average year?  Was it the worst-ever year?  What sorts of things went right for you in the past year?  What sorts of thing went wrong? The question on which I’d…

Having “a little faith” has sometimes been believed to be acceptable, for having “a little faith” is better than having “no faith.”  Right?  While the acceptability of having “a little faith” has sometimes been based on Jesus’ statement to His apostles about having “faith as a mustard seed” (Matt. 17:20), such should not be used to justify remaining in a state of…

How close can we, as Christians, get to works of darkness?  How close can (or should) our children get to works of darkness?  How close can we get before the force of gravity begins to pull us into its evil forces?  Read the first half of Ephesians 5 carefully. The works of darkness “are not fitting” for those who are imitating God…

The word “if” can be used in a constructive way and in a destructive way.  In 2 Peter 1, our God said, regarding the essential Christian qualities, “If these things are yours…If you do these things…” (1:8-10).  As a conditional statement, our God motivates us in constructive ways. In the temptations of Jesus, our adversary used the word “if.”  Twice the devil…

Have you noticed how obsessed television shows have become with sex?  Can you believe we have reached the point when public broadcast television has daytime and primetime shows that have as their sole theme (or as one of their major emphases) the glamorizing of the sexual inclinations and exploits of its characters?  One program that seemed to break through some social barriers…