Senior Living Ministries
There’s something powerful about the fourth quarter of a football game. By that point, the excitement of kickoff has passed. The crowd noise may feel different. Players are tired. And yet, every play matters more. Because the outcome of the game is often decided in that final stretch.
A common theme in literature, movies, and in fact, any tool in story-telling, is "good versus evil." When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, I watched more westerns and war movies than I care to count. In all of these, there was a battle or war between the good and the bad: those who fought for righteousness and truth, and those who were profoundly immoral and wicked.
A common theme in literature, movies, and in fact, any tool of story-telling, is “good versus evil.”
The word confidence is used many times in Scripture. The majority of uses concern firm trust in people, circumstances, or God. Scripture tells us not to put our confidence in some things. For example, Philippians 3:3 says, “We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.” Here the Apostle Paul is saying that human achievements, no matter how impressive, cannot earn a person salvation with God.
Time and again, Scripture likens the Christian life to a race—and you and I are called to run with perseverance right to the finishing line!
In our fallen, broken, hurting world, no one is immune to suffering and trials. All too often—and perhaps even more so in our latter years—things happen that cause our hearts to cry, “Why Lord?” At such times, it’s easy for discouragement and depression to get a foothold. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
I was a church college pastor 30 years ago. One particular Sunday, as I was about to leave to watch the Super Bowl with a bunch of college kids, I got a phone message from our church phone system and it said, “Hi, my name is John. I am so depressed and lonely that I am thinking about committing suicide. My address is such and such.” Now there was no phone number left and no caller ID. Immediately, I tried to contact another church leader to go with me, but no one was available.
George Mueller (1805-1898) was a Christian evangelist who founded a series of orphanages in Bristol, England, providing housing for over 10,000 children. Mueller was known for being a man of faith and prayer. Along with the orphanages, he started the Scriptural Knowledge Institution to educate believers, distribute Bibles, and evangelize the lost. He decided to believe God and depended entirely on God to supply his needs. In today’s dollar, God provided almost $100 million in response to Mueller’s prayers!
Certainly one of the most dramatic stories of the transforming power of Christ is the life of the Apostle Paul. Before his conversion, it is fairly safe to say he was the most ardent oppressor of Christians in the world. In Acts 26:9-11, Paul says this: I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus . . . I caused many believers there (Jerusalem) to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.
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