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The air was bone-chillingly cold and the wind might have bitten right through your knit hat, if you had stepped outside. The winter season had stretched long and dark across West Michigan and Stephanie and I were beginning to sense the cabin fever syndrome setting in around our little bungalow....

Cancer. That one, singular word cuts into the fabric of our lives with fear and anxiety, doesn't it? Every person knows someone who has battled against cancer - perhaps you know one who is in the middle of the fight right now. This lethal, fearsome disease is waging war against their body, seeking to wrack their frame with total destruction.

What do we value most? What kind of value do you and I place on our money, homes, cars, reputation, vacations, recreation, jobs, success, spouse and children, mom or dad, brother or sister…? It’s not that good jobs, money, homes, or most of all, our family members are bad things to hold as dear. My family is incredibly precious and dear to me. But what do you and I value most… more than anything?

Just this past May, not more than 2 months ago, David Gonzalez, age 35, was busy remodeling an old home in Hoffman, Minn, that he had purchased for just $10,100. But while he was busy tearing out old insulation in the walls and ceiling of the house he uncovered what is considered to be the “Holy Grail” of all comic books: Action Comics edition No. 1. 1938 – the very first comic to introduce the Man of Steel, Superman. Reports indicate the comic book had remained untouched in the home’s ceiling for more than 70 years. Only around 100 issues of this comic book are known to be in existence today, and a recent sale of an Action Comics No. 1 edition in near mint condition took in 2.16 million dollars. To further heighten the attractiveness of Gonzalez’s find for collectors, this past month marked another blockbuster film for Superman: Man of Steel. This was an incredible find, at an incredible time. But the story goes on…

More often than not, we are driven by a mentality that celebrates self-reliance. Learning how to maximize our human potential is the name of the game. We believe if we work hard enough and make the right kind of friends – we can have it all. The world is the oyster of the one who learns to take advantage of every opportunity, so many people say.

Here I was again, cold, alone, and in the dark; trying to get away from the sound by plugging my ears from the banging of metal hitting human flesh. Even though I could not see anything from where I sat huddled underneath the kitchen table, I tightly closed my eyes with the echo of every pounding blow. Why would they be doing this? I thought. Why would these people be so evil as to do something so terrible and gruesome to an innocent man? Oh please stop, please stop!

We live in dark times. And God’s Word makes it clear that our surroundings and culture will only get worse and increasingly act out in depravity – in every form – in the days ahead. Yes, we are hopeful and prayerful for a spiritual awakening in the world. Yet there is no mistaking it. When you and I walked out these doors, we are entering a world that is largely opposed to Christ and/or intentionally ignorant of God and His Good News. They don’t want to hear that sin deserves punishment. They don’t want to really be bothered by the notion of an eternity in either heaven or hell. They want to live their way and would be extremely irritated by anyone telling them what they are doing is wrong.

I will never forget the last moment of communication I had with my Grandma, Betty Czarnecki, as she lay on her deathbed. I had just finished singing, “It is Well with My Soul” at her bedside, and she looked up at me with those sparkling eyes, and although she was unable to speak she gently squeezed my hand two times, as if to say, “Thank you, I love you...and I know it is well with my soul.” And it was finally well with her soul, because just before her final stroke she had placed her trust in Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. Perhaps you recall the final words or last wishes of your grandfather, grandma, mother, father, or uncle. And just like my moment with my Grandma, those last words or moments have been forever emblazoned on your mind and in your heart.

Sometimes we need a good reality check. The rich culture we live in (yes, we are filthy rich in comparison to 90% of the world) is constantly promulgating the idea that the apex of life is achieving a state of financial independence so that one can enjoy constant ease and recreation. Is there something wrong with ease and recreation? No, certainly there is place for balanced ease and recreation in the life of a Christ-follower. However, if we focus our mind's attention and heart's affection on getting to a place of capitalistic nirvana, we will slowly let our guard down and begin to choose what is expedient for ourselves rather than what is effectual for the mission of God.

There once was a young slave named Samuel, who was owned from birth by a wicked, evil, abusive master. This master owned Samuel’s siblings, parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents, and made it his point to abuse them, misuse them, and work them literally to death. Every slave owned by this master died in bondage. Half the property was covered with nameless gravesites. It seemed like there was absolutely no way of escape. No one ever had escaped on their own. Sure, some had tried. But no one ever succeeded. Death was the end of every story.

One bitterly cold, late December day, my brother Stephen and I trekked out to see the ice on a river near our house in St. Clair, Michigan. It had been pretty cold for the past couple of weeks and we were both anxious to lace up our hockey skates for the new season. The Pine […]

The Berlin Wall surrounding East Germany was the singular glaring obstacle to real freedom in Europe from August 1961 until November 1989. For almost 30 years the people of East Germany were locked behind a wall, a wall of communism – a regime that kept the populace bound in a life of fear, freedom-less-ness, and […]

When Jesus walked the roads of Israel He was on a mission with a consuming sense of urgency for the lost sheep, first for the house of Israel, but also for anyone who was spiritual lost and apart from God. Jesus came to seek out and save the lost… If this was and is the […]

We often face walls in our lives that may drive us to unbelief. The wall seems insurmountable. It seems as though we can’t go on. Perhaps we are faced with doubts because of a skeptical, atheistic professor or teacher. Or maybe you are being barraged by friends at school who think your belief in Christ […]

Identification with “status” is all around us. We are daily inundated with the world’s system and orientation – which screams for more attention, more fame, and more prestige. Unfortunately, we also live in a way that all too often abides according to the world’s system of social status and “professional” association. This way of thinking […]

People, situations, or even the circumstances of life are not always as they seem. Such was the case for a young, charming woman – a woman who happens to be the personal hero of my wife. This youthful, smart, and witty young girl had a bright future. All seemed refreshingly exciting. She grew up in […]

:: The Beauty of Grace ::  “The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair…” ~ Dr. Glenn Kreider   The evening before I headed back from Dallas after my last seminary class on “last things” (how ironic, yet wonderful), I prayed a simple pray that God would be pleased to bring me […]

Imagine with me for one moment… that you cannot speak.  You have completely lost your ability to sing, speak, or even utter one audible sound. Through a strange and irreversible virus, you have totally become mute. This crazy virus, weirdly enough, only attacked your vocal chords, numbing the nerves that control your voice box, and […]