God’s Goodness and the Mandalay Massacre

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

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Great Verses of the Bible: Psalm 1:1-2

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

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“An Act of Pure Evil”

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

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Word of the Week: Stewardship

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

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A Legacy of Sin and Shame

 

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

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Church Shooting in Nashville Reminds Us

“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

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Great Verses of the Bible: Exodus 20:3

 

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

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What We Stand For: Sending a Clear Message

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

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Word of the Week: Priorities

In First Things First, Stephen Covey tells a story that one of his associates heard at a seminar. The presenter pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar and placed it next to a pile of fist-sized rocks. After filling the jar to the top with rocks, he asked, “Is the jar full?”

The group replied, “Yes.” Continue reading

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Is the Rapture Coming Tomorrow?

The world won’t end (Saturday), “but the world as we know it is ending,” David Meade, told the Washington Post in a recent interview.

Meade is a self-described “specialist in research and investigations.” Apparently, his doomsday claim has some people nervously eyeing tomorrow, September 23, 2017, as the beginning of catastrophic events that will begin to befall Earth. His claims have been reported in Newsweek, Fox News, the Huffington Post and several other media outlets. Continue reading

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