The Value of Affliction

Affliction is both a medicine if we sin, and a preservative that we sin not.

—Richard Hooker, Anglican priest and theologian (1554-1600)

The Pests We Tolerate

Pests—bugs and rodents—even the thought of them makes our skin crawl. But pests find their way into everyone's home at one time or another. ...

Teenager Diagnoses Her Own Disease

For eight years, Jessica Terry, a teenager in Seattle, suffered from crippling stomach pain. When she wasn't doubled over from the cramping, she was ...

The Limits of the Human Will

Many of us act as if repentance is a matter of the will. [But] we can't "will" ourselves into change. We can't "will" ourselves ...

Our Preposterous Fantasies

God has made [our] fantasies … so preposterously unrewarding that we are forced to turn to him for help and for mercy. We seek wealth and find ...

God Gives Before We Ask

Max Lucado writes in the “Cure for the Common Life”:

The bank sent me an overdraft notice on the checking account of one of my daughters. I ...

Luxury Cruise Turns Sour

Recently I spoke with a friend named Carol (name changed) who had just returned from a difficult ocean cruise. She works for an organization that was ...

The Jekyll and Hyde Nature of Motherhood

Nancy Ortberg, in her sermon "The Jekyll and Hyde of Motherhood”:

A transformation occurred in me with the birth of my children. I traded in ...

Toxic Assets

The 2009 economic crisis brought an interesting phrase into the headlines: toxic assets. Toxic assets are one of the factors contributing to the trouble ...

Condemned and We Don't Even Know It

Dan Meyer, in his sermon "Why Remember the Passion?":

Years ago I traveled to Ecuador and spent a couple of weeks traveling in the mountains. ...