Penetrating The Darkness

What causes you to lose heart? *Relationship conflicts that appear to be irreparable? *Physical decline or unremitting pain? *Career or personal goals that haven't materialized? *Rigorous opposition or unjust criticism? *Despair over family members not...

Avoiding Spiritual Darkness in Our Latter Years   When are the leaves of a tree most beautiful? Late in their life span.  Eye-popping hues of gold, yellow, and red dot the landscape.  Their colors peak right before they die, turn brown, and fall to the earth's...

Will we live our latter years in the dark?   Despite his Christian faith, the older he gets, the more Randy complains. If it isn't recurring back pain or declining energy, he gripes about every dip in the stock market, the latest election results, the weather,...

What is something that God has done for you, for a loved one, or for your church that makes you want to shout, "Do it again, Lord!"?   Scene 1 Just as the blistering sun's rays and stale air sucks the moisture out of the desert floor, leaving it parched and...

Stunned. Did I hear him correctly? Did he really say what I think he did? Are my hearing aids working properly? Robertson McQuilkin (1927--2016), then 85, walked by me on a parallel sidewalk five yards away. He pointed at me and exclaimed, "I prayed for you this...

The Ups and Downs of a Depression-Pocked Day You don't want to get stuck on an elevator.  You're stranded in a tight space with folks you don't know, in claustrophobic conditions, unsure how long you'll wait for rescue, all the while hoping that the others used...

Turning Fear Into Faith, Part 2 God is keenly sensitive to our tendency to feel afraid. He knew we'd often fret and feel threatened by obstacles and situations we can't control. Why else would the most repeated command in the Bible be "Do not fear"?  And the...

An unanticipated diagnosis causes your heart to lurch:  cancer. Your company replaces you with a younger executive who costs them less. Your fiancé pierces your heart, reneging on his commitment, infatuated by someone else.  Will your long-held desire for a husband...

Even in a person not prone to depression, delays fuel discouragement.  For those of us susceptible to despondency, waiting for something important can exacerbate the condition. Here's a revised version of an article I wrote years ago that has been tucked away in...

When we think He's frowning at us, the opposite may be true.   He had accepted Christ as a child, and lived out his faith through his high school years. His parents were strong Christians.  But he didn't handle well the adjustment of leaving home for college. ...

A Prayer for Change Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. That's the title of a Charles Swindoll paperback I read in the 1980s. That's a realistic depiction of spiritual formation.  At best, it is a zigzagging line on a graph, showing highs and lows.  Over time,...

Vibrant. Handsome. Warm. That describes the face of the 36-year-old who stared at me today from the obituary page, squeezing my heart to the point of pain.  I didn't know him personally. A college honors graduate. A sensitive person who regularly volunteered...