"Christianity and Judaism are arguably the most 'worldly' religions on earth."

Upon hearing that for the first time my jaw dropped. "Worldly," where I was raised, meant one thing: sin. Armed with "pure doctrine" I prepared for battle. But, like much of my education, I needed to "unlearn," and then "re-learn." "Worldly" has numerous meanings.

"Christianity and Judaism are arguably the most 'worldly' religions on earth."

Upon hearing that for the first time my jaw dropped. "Worldly," where I was raised, meant one thing: sin. Armed with "pure doctrine" I prepared for battle. But, like much of my education, I needed to "unlearn," and then "re-learn." "Worldly" has numerous meanings.

"But why do I not get back quicker when I want to so bad?" Not because God does not want the work done. Always because we fail in some way; it may be we have never repented half the way back. It may be we have some mental reservation, or are holding to some secret desire that God cannot grant.

As Mohammed said, "There is no escape from God but to God."

"But why do I not get back quicker when I want to so bad?" Not because God does not want the work done. Always because we fail in some way; it may be we have never repented half the way back. It may be we have some mental reservation, or are holding to some secret desire that God cannot grant.

As Mohammed said, "There is no escape from God but to God."

One of my favorite Advent stories is about a missionary couple on the eastern coast of Africa. They were waiting to go back to the United States, their home country, after having served for over twenty years and impacting two generations of people in the village where they were assigned. 

They were temporarily waiting in a location many miles inland from the coast until their arrangements were finalized for them to return to the U.S. for Christmas and for retirement. 

[The Word] is the food for the soul. Ezekiel said he took the roll and ate it. Robert Ingersoll certainly voiced our sentiments when he said, though in derision, "Anybody that will believe the Bible ought to be fed on the same kind of diet that Ezekiel had." Lord, give us more of the heavenly roll to swallow.

[The Word] is the food for the soul. Ezekiel said he took the roll and ate it. Robert Ingersoll certainly voiced our sentiments when he said, though in derision, "Anybody that will believe the Bible ought to be fed on the same kind of diet that Ezekiel had." Lord, give us more of the heavenly roll to swallow.

Twentieth-century reformer and martyr Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that until we find something worth dying for, we will not have anything truly worth living for. 

Like many, I often wonder how committed I really am to my “to die for” list.  In fact, part of my own discipleship journey, especially in pastoral ministry, is to consistently recognize the difference between what is worth dying for (both figuratively and literally) and what is nothing more than a strong personal preference. 

Recently I was walking in a shopping mall in Johannesburg, South Africa. Because we had several hours before going to the airport for our 16-hour flight home, the group I was with wanted to do some last-minute shopping before boarding.

Wandering the halls and looking at the stores with their goods, I saw a bold sign ahead reading, "Salvation!" Nearing the store, I was taken aback by the fact that the sign really read, "Salvation Ink," a tattoo parlor.

God has always appointed people to speak for Him.  We can see consistently in the Bible that God finds creative ways to speak, both directly and indirectly, and often appoints someone to speak for Him at a particular time or over a period of time.