The Tiger, the student newspaper for Clemson University, recently asked students if peer pressure was common for Clemson students. One sophomore said, “For sure. I definitely think it’s who you surround yourself with and the environment you’re in.”
Read MoreQuestion from a pastor: In light of Christ’s command to “turn the other cheek” and to “not resist the evil man”, is it inappropriate for believers to contemplate or exercise physical force in defense of our families against criminal aggressors?
Read MoreBeing a super high-achiever, I must confess I find it difficult to receive from others. Really difficult. Like you, I’m usually on the giving end, not the receiving. My pride fights hard to stay intact.
Read MoreThe human psyche is naturally drawn to light, but more than that, we need it. The marble caverns known as the Oregon Caves underscore this in a dramatic way. Once inside, a park ranger guides visitors along the path until they reach a certain point.
Read MoreNo one escapes difficulty. It is a part of living in a fallen world, but we do not have to live with feelings of defeat, discouragement, and criticism.
Read MoreMany people wrongly think, “Goal setting is unspiritual because it shows a lack of trust. It’s not right to plan. Instead, people should wait for God to lead them.‚”
Read MorePastoral ministry is, in many minds, synonymous with pulpit ministry. Yet pastors, as their name suggests, are not only preachers but shepherds. They are “those who will have to give an account” (Heb. 13:17), working as under-shepherds to the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:2, 4), the one to whom the sheep belong.
Read MoreA four-year-old girl, hugging a doll in each of her little arms, looked at her mother and said, “Mama, I love them and love them and love them, but they never love me back.” One of the most challenging things about love is that loving someone never guarantees being loved back.
Read MoreAS I WRITE THIS, the thermometer registers in the nineties. The air is still and heavy. The dog is panting at my feet, the sun is high, and the birds are silent and still.
Read MoreA mysterious word at the center of the Lord’s Prayer has stumped biblical scholars for centuries. It’s the word epiousios in verse 11 of Matthew 6, which is translated daily. The trouble with the word is that no one can seem to trace where it came from. Epiousios was so uncommon in the ancient world that the third-century theologian Origen concluded that the Gospel writers had invented it!
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