Pictured: “Topping Out Bear Stearns, New York City,” image copied from https://millersamuel.com/with-a-flag-an-i-beam-and-a-christmas-tree-the-party-is-just-getting-started/ I grew up in a boomtown. During my childhood, Houston was America’s fastest growing city.[1] One day my friends and I might be in a field flipping over scrap wood to find snakes, and a year later it would be a 10-story IRSContinue reading “Building Temples and Building Homes. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.”
Category Archives: Abstinence
CAUSE AND EFFECT. Revelation 14:8.
The Bible contains multiple genres: laws, songs, architectural plans, poetry, prophecies, biographies, dreams, letters, and more. It also contains statements that read like Scientific Law. You remember Newton’s “What goes up, must come down.” Science includes hundreds more: “To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” “Energy can be neither created nor destroyedContinue reading “CAUSE AND EFFECT. Revelation 14:8.”
How Do You Do … Without? Jeremiah 35:6-9.
Most of us are prepared to do without—on occasion. Dieting is easy if it’s temporary. It’s not that hard to give up ice cream for a day or two. But what if someone told you to give up something for the rest of your life? Jack Lalanne, the “Godfather of Fitness,” met a health foodContinue reading “How Do You Do … Without? Jeremiah 35:6-9.”
The Road to Hell.
We talk a lot at church about the road to Heaven, or the “Roman Road,” or following God’s path. But is there a path that leads the other direction? Is there a road to hell? Or, if you have been born again, is there a path that will lead you to the hell of aContinue reading “The Road to Hell.”
Don’t Embrace Fire.
When was your worst burn? Do you remember the way it burns for hours? The redness? Blisters, maybe? Fire is so dangerous and yet we play with it all the time. Some of us play with actual fire, with firecrackers, gasoline, and pyromania. Or maybe you love sparklers or Roman candles. Or twirling the endContinue reading “Don’t Embrace Fire.”
Toxic Sexuality.
People talk about so-called “toxic masculinity” these days, arguing about what that might be. But there is something much more toxic than masculinity: toxic sexuality. God created sex. He designed it to be a wonderful gift within marriage. But people have invented hundreds of ways to twist and pervert this sacred gift, turning it intoContinue reading “Toxic Sexuality.”
Running the Sprinkler.
Have you ever taken a drink from a water hose? We all did it as kids. No one asked how clean the hose was. What about a sprinkler? Could you drink the cool, white water spraying from a sprinkler? This is the time for watering lawns. Times like this make me glad I liveContinue reading “Running the Sprinkler.”
Do You Know What a Cistern is?
When your mother and I went to Mountain Lake in 1994, I found the entire trip fascinating. The small-town, Mennonite community was amazing. But one thing I will never forget is the home of Papa’s parents, Art and Linda Stadtlander. They had a cistern in the house! That is like a basement full of water.Continue reading “Do You Know What a Cistern is?”
Let it Sleep.
The Song of Solomon portrays Christ as the Groom romancing—wooing—the Church, the Bride of Christ. But it is also a romantic story about two young people who flirt and chase each other through town and forest. The man pursues. The woman pursues. He describes her beauty in language no one could top (“You are absolutelyContinue reading “Let it Sleep.”
Abstain Until the Time.
I once had an epiphany while watching THE BRADY BUNCH. Alice had helped the kids bake cookies and lamented that she had no self-control. She ate a cookie or two and told herself she couldn’t help it. But I could. It would be so easy not to eat a hot, fresh cookie. I could sayContinue reading “Abstain Until the Time.”
Household Words: 