Everyone seems to...
Everyone seems to know the up and up about Twilight--be them lovers or haters. The film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's novel (a vampire-human love story) released last November to largely adoring audiences. Tomorrow, we're in for a similar ride, as the sequel (now a vampire-human-werewolf love triangle) is set to hit theaters. With this déjà vu, some old Beauty from the

How God Humbled a VerySmartMan
Of the Old Testament patriarchs, I related to Jacob the most. He didn’t share grandfather Abraham’s extreme faith, or daddy Isaac’s apparent naiveté. Instead, Jacob likes the illusion of control. He thinks, and then overthinks, in attempt to finagle this situation to his advantage.Like the time when his drama queen of a brother, Esau, was simply “staaarving,” and said if Jacob didn’t feed hi

He Said, she said
"Train yourself up in godliness," You say, "for godliness with contentment is great gain, not only to yourself but the people around you. Plus, there's eternal reward involved."So I say, "Sure" and have at it for oh, two hours. I know the rote rules of godliness: Read the Bible. Pray for a little while. Read a devotional, maybe. Make sure you've tithed or faste

The Way Pirates Look for Gold
"But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: 'The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.' To which I say, 'To hell with

Last Words
He did not cry easily, but the sight of his friends—more like brothers—gathering around him in prayer for the last time was enough to bring Paul to tears. For three years they had fought side by side proclaiming the gospel to the stubborn city of Ephesus. Together the band of brothers had shouldered the threat of beatings, imprisonment and even death from those hostile to their messa