In his book, Becoming a Person of Influence, John Maxwell tells about an experiment conducted by psychologists to measure people’s capacity to endure pain.
The experiment involved barefooted people standing in a bucket of ice water. They discovered one thing that made it possible for some people to stand in the ice water twice as long as others.
Encouragement was the key factor. Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
Suffering is a part of the human experience. Jesus told the apostles in John 16:33, “In this world, you’re going to have trouble. You’re going to have tribulation.” But he didn’t explain why.
In midst of his pain and anguish, Job observed, “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). But he still didn’t understand why.
Yesterday, we began answering a question from one of our readers regarding the issue of suffering in the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting and as it relates to the book of the Job. If you missed yesterday’s post, read it first for context. Continue reading
A Barna Poll once asked, “If you could ask God one question and you knew He would give you an answer, what would you ask?”
The most common response was, “Why is there pain and suffering in the world?”
In the aftermath of what is being called “The Mandalay Massacre” similar questions are being raised. One of our regular readers, Stephen, asked if I would write about the Las Vegas shooting as it relates to the Book of Job. “One specific question I have (with a Book of Job context) — is it reasonable for Christians to expect God to protect us from the prowl of Satan?” Continue reading
Filed under Evil
There’s a 1970’s song, “Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool Ya,” released by the late Wilson Pickett, and later performed and recorded by a number of pop and country artists. The opening lines go like this.
Girl, try to remember when we didn’t have no shoes
We stuck together, just me and you
It took a long time to get what we got today
Now you wanna give it all up for another guy Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
Once again in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, we are forced to think about the evil that exists in the world today.
In the midst of the glitter and glamour that is Las Vegas, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd of concertgoers Sunday evening that has left at least 59 dead and over 500 injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in our country’s history. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
The Butterball Turkey Company used to set up a hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys. One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in her freezer for twenty-three years. The operator told her it might be safe if the freezer had been kept below zero degrees the entire time. But the operator warned that, even if it were safe, the flavor had probably deteriorated, and she wouldn’t recommend eating it. Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
Tributes are rolling in for his recent passing.
“He was an American icon.”
He was a “legend,” “innovator,” and “one of a kind.”
“A true pop culture trailblazer.”
“Thank you for making the world a better place.” Continue reading
Filed under Culture
“You think you’re going to be safe in church,” said Mike McPherson, as he waited at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Sunday for updates on his friend Joey Spann.
Spann is the minister at Burnette Chapel church of Christ, where a gunman, identified by police as 25-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson, entered the building at the conclusion of worship last Sunday and began “indiscriminately shooting at people,” police said, wounding six people. Continue reading
Filed under Evil, Sin, Uncategorized
I recently read a story about a university professor who distributed copies of the Ten Commandments to their students. They were not copied from the Bible. Nor arranged in a particular order.
The students were given the task to arrange the commandments in their order of importance.
What do you think they did? Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Even if you’re not a football fan, you’ve probably heard that every team in the NFL protested in some form prior to Sunday’s games during The National Anthem.
Teams reacted in various ways. Some took a knee during the playing of The Star-Spangled Banner. Others locked arms in a show of solidarity, including some team owners who joined them. Other teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, and Seattle Seahawks stayed in the locker room while the Anthem was performed. Continue reading
Filed under America
ThePreachersWord 