It happens fairly innocently, the feelings of discontentment. Here we are in 2018, the most blessed people of any generation in the history of time, and we are dissatisfied. Usually, these tendencies of being discontented are closely related to being perfectly spoiled. Most of us are not poor. We have more creature comforts and conveniences than ever. We are parked right here in the Christian age with the manifold wisdom of God having been delivered to us. Our hearts, minds, and bodies should be full! The devil can work with spoiled rotten. He can work through privilege to convince us that what we have is not enough or not as…

We’ve all been there or we’ll all be there. It may be that you are there right now. Somebody you know has lost a family member. You want to help, but you are not entirely sure how you can do that.  In the most recent issue of the Gospel Advocate (Vol. 160, No. 9, September 2018), there was an informative article by a sister in the Lord. Michelle Moore wrote about the loss of her son and provided what I thought was some very practical advice. You may find her article on pages 14-16 of this issue. She wrote of things that many of us have thought of. For example, she suggested that ministering to those…

If you are like me, you have probably read Genesis 2:25 more times than you can remember. It may very well be that, like me, you’ve never given much consideration to some of the implications of that verse. After we read about the creation of both Adam and Eve we read the following words: And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (Gen. 2:25). As we read the very next verse in God’s Word (Gen. 3:1), we are reading the sad account of how sin entered into the world. In that same chapter, we also read about the first attempted “cover-up” of sin. After the first couple…

I know it’s risky to use a title like this. The reality is that if I live for several more years I may not be able to remember the things I really want to. My mother had severe dementia in her later years, and while there is no guarantee that I will follow in her footsteps, there is the real possibility that I might. I still want to share some things with you that I hope I never forget.  hey are very special to me and were brought to my remembrance this last week by the first thing on my list. I hope I never forget: The feeling I had when I…

Maybe the most often-quoted Chinese proverb is, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Nearly every time I have heard that proverb used, it has been in an encouraging way, but have we ever stopped to consider that the same statement is true in a negative sense, as well. If we ever start down a sinful path, we could find ourselves lost and without hope in some addiction or massive life upheaval due to that sin. In the mid-1400s, the nation of Portugal was sending out explorers to nearby islands to try to find land to take over and resources to use. One island was named…