Andy

Does or does not man have an inherent sinful nature? Many would adamantly affirm “yes” as their thinking and convictions have been influenced by Augustine’s and later Calvin’s doctrine of total hereditary depravity. Some would say “no,” but their excusal of sin because we are, after all, “just humans,” would state otherwise. However, any sincere … Read more…

Few experiences are more agonizing than having salt come in contact with any sort of cut to the flesh. In fact, the pain of such is so great that it has itself become a metaphor for any type of hurt that can be experienced whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. I find it, then, to be … Read more…

Sorrow affects us all. No one has ever lived who has not lost a person whom they have loved, or at the very least been negatively impacted in some other way. With sorrow comes emotional pain; pain that can considerably alter the direction of a person’s life if left unresolved. Grief that is never properly … Read more…

God has always been fair in His dealings with man. Nowhere in the Bible can even a single example be provided where God acted “off the cuff” or “without reason” with any individual or group of people. In fact, the evidence would prove that God has always been far more merciful toward mankind than he … Read more…

Any casual glance through a local bookstore will testify to the desire we have to improve our various stations of life. There are manuals to provide instruction for the improvement of finances, health, houses, cars, etc. Some have little worth while others contain much more constructive advice. However, of the many areas that many people … Read more…

If anything makes you appreciate peace, it is the presence of conflict. War makes you appreciate international peace. Marital discord makes you appreciate familial peace. Legal disputes bring appreciation for social peace. Oddly some people thrive on conflict. They seek, plant the seeds of, and encourage conflict. Before the Civil War erupted in the United … Read more…

What gets you worked up? I imagine that the number of answers I might receive would be about as varied as the number of individuals I were to ask. But everybody has certain things that can easily make them uncomfortable, worried, and enraged all at the same time. Perhaps it is seeing how some people … Read more…

Problems exist and persist in this world. In fact, we are so plagued with them that they seem to have become commonplace in all areas of life. The news each day only confirms the reality we have had to face regarding our society’s problems. And what is even more troubling about much of what we … Read more…

Anyone reared a Christian home likely has endearing songs from their childhood emblazoned in their minds and on their hearts that has in some way molded them into the type of people they are. How many children have been spurred to later Christian service from the militant “I’m in the Lord’s Army”? Who among us … Read more…

There exists in every area of life the ever present danger of growing pacified with how things are rather than pursuing the way things could and maybe should be. Often in our careers, marriages, and friendships we find ourselves in a rut, satisfied and without desire to work to strengthen, grow, and build ourselves up … Read more…