This Is the Reason You Have Nothing to Show for All of Your Hard Work

You work hard, right?

Of course you do. You work forty, fifty, maybe sixty hours per week. Then you come home and do housework. You wrestle the kids. You do homework. You bathe and feed them. But when you actually have a moment to step back and just breathe it’s easy to get frustrated.

Vinoth Chandar (CC)

You feel like you're swimming against the current, and no matter how hard you try you can’t gain any ground.

Sound familiar?

There’s a good reason for this feeling. Something that, even if understood intellectually, is hard to follow in practice thanks to our fickle, demanding, needy flesh.

Maybe You're Not Ready to Fulfill Your Calling

“Who made you judge over us?” The Hebrew said to Moses (Exo. 2:14).

Answer? God did (Exo. 18:13). It was just a few decades later than Moses would have liked. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and slay an Egyptian he saw beating his fellow Jew.

Abhisek Sarda (CC)

Things weren’t happening fast enough for Moses. He knew God wanted to use him. He knew God had plans for him. But he couldn’t wait any longer. He had to do something.

My Crackpot Theory Regarding the Age of the Earth

Scientists from 33 countries convened in Paris in 1967. They had a problem.

The earth was slowing down.

Terry Hancock (CC)

This wasn’t a new revelation by any means. Newton’s 1st Law of Motion states plainly that an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.¹

That force just happened to be ocean tides.² But by the scientists' measurements, the earth’s rotation only slows about 2 milliseconds per revolution around the sun,³ not exactly a stunning figure. So what was the problem?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know the Sabbath Commandment (And Then Some)

What if I told you that the fourth commandment holds the keys to beating down stress, worry and fatigue?

What if I told you that the Sabbath commandment could lead to inner peace and could tremendously strengthen your faith?

And what if I said that the commandment to "Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy" (Exo. 20:8) can help you get a grip on proper application of Old Testament law, on legalism vs leniency?

You'd turn straight to Exodus and start reading, right?

Sound far-fetched?

What if I told you that studying the fourth commandment did all of these things for me?

Does Life Ever Make You Feel Helpless? Good.

Have you ever felt helpless? Have you ever felt totally out of control?

There are things swirling around you that you can’t explain, don’t understand, can’t stop.

It kind of makes you dizzy, no?

Maybe you just can’t seem to get a grip on life. Guess what? That’s a good thing.

Jesse Barker (CC)

A Story You Probably Won't Believe about the Birth of My Third Son

Abram’s birth gave Katie and me a scare.

I’m not one for birth stories. All that blood and mucus and meconium (a nice way to say poop) just grosses me out. But this is a story I find more than coincidental. In fact, you might not even believe I’m telling the truth.

Better Prayer: A Lesson from Jeremiah

I used to work at a greasy pizza parlor. We baked the pies directly on a stone above a blazing fire, just the way it should be. That oven would get so hot, I think I still have scar tissue from the burns.

The boss made the schedule in two week increments. One time she released the schedule, and I was supposed to work a Saturday night. But I didn’t want to work. So I intended to ask off. I was so confident that I could get off work, I even made plans with my friends for that night. I was seventeen.

Patrick Fore

I approached my boss to request off, and you know what happens next.

“No.”

Everyone else had already asked. I was sheepish. Now I had to either blow off my friends (and fun) or else push the issue, and risk losing my income source (by which I was able to have fun).

A conundrum if you will.

How Not to Pray

The disciples famously asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.” Jesus responded with the Lord’s prayer. They did not ask him, “Teach us how not to pray.” But if they did He would he might have given them this lesson from the book of Jeremiah (in addition to the other things He told them).