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No Human Being Can Tame the Tongue Luci Shaw’s poem, “What James Didn’t Say About the Tongue,” ends with this amusing and alarming description: “Restless, a blind, amphibious animal, ceaselessly testing the limits of its porcelain cage, cunning in shaping breath into word: half-truth or proverb, benediction or blight. As original as Eden.

Mature Faith Does Not Pursue Selfish Pleasures The first sermon in American history was preached at Plymouth, Mass., on December 9, 1621 by Robert Cushman, a deacon and Puritan leader. His text was 1 Corinthians 10:24, “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” In his sermon he warned against “swelling pride, self-love and...

Mature Faith Does Not Pursue Worldliness “What a friend we have in Jesus,” a classic hymn rejoices, “all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!” Who wouldn’t want our loving...

Mature Faith Makes Plans in Humility Jesus once told a parable about a rich man whose economic endeavors were going quite well—so well, in fact, that he didn’t have enough room to store all his wealth. He made plans to build more barns and congratulated himself: “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” God evaluated the situation differently:...

Mature Faith Is Patient and Expectant What will Judgment Day be like? Popular culture and media have answered this question in many colorful ways. Nuclear bombs will destroy us in a series of radioactive mushroom clouds. A computer system meant to defend us will become sentient and attack humanity. A pandemic or modern-day plague will sweep...

Mature Faith and Prayer A classic Christian prayer for healing reads: “O Lord God of our salvation, to whom no sickness is incurable, we pray that in your compassion you will drive away from your servants, who look for your heavenly medicine, all illness; show forth in them the might of your healing power, and make them whole both in body...

Prayer: Example of Elijah On the morning of September 11, 2001, Rick Rescorla was on the 44th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower when a large jet rammed into the North Tower. Officials told everyone to stay put, but Rescorla ignored them. A Vietnam veteran in charge of corporate security at Morgan Stanley, he aggressively evacuated...

The Riches of Wisdom On November 6, 2018, at age 33, Jeremy Colliton became the youngest head coach in the National Hockey League (NHL) when he followed Joel Quenneville as coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Quenneville was the second-winningest coach in NHL history and led the Blackhawks to victory in three NHL championships. But in 2017–2018,...

Building for the Infinite God What role should secular expertise play in filling service openings in the church? Some have argued that spiritual gifts and calling aren’t relevant when filling a vacancy in the nursery, children’s ministry, or small group leadership. Are spiritual gifts important only for preachers and worship leaders? We find...

Excelling in Holiness A century ago, a parlor in your home signified some wealth or status. This was the room where you would greet guests and display your best furniture, art, and other décor. But the parlor actually has a religious origin from early Christian monasteries. People who entered into vows of silence in the cloisters still occasionally...