Being a father and a Type A personality myself, I look back on my parenting experiences and recall instances where I could have done a better job. I wish I could relive some of those busy days at a slower pace. Unfortunately, none of us is allowed do-overs or mulligans. … [Read more...]

By Franklin Graham America had great healthcare, the best in the world, before Obamacare. I call for our politicians to come together and put Americans first—not insurance companies and not hospitals. We don’t need government-run healthcare. If you want to see what that looks like, just look at our VA hospitals. They’re a mess. Healthcare quality and costs will only improve with more competition, and allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines would increase competition. Congress needs to cancel their summer recess until they find a solution. Let your congressman or senator know that they’ve got to get the job done on healthcare. Franklin Graham serves as president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse. These views originally were posted at www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham.   … [Read more...]

By Anne Graham Lotz In all their affliction He was afflicted; . . . in His love and in His pity He redeemed them. - Isaiah 63:9, NKJV When was the last time you wept into your pillow at night, thinking no one cared? Is the pain so deep and your hurt so great that you cry night after night? In your misery and loneliness, do you think Jesus is emotionally detached? That He just doesn’t care? Or that He’s simply too busy to notice? Or that He is somewhat callous since He sees a lot of pain that’s worse than yours? Or that He couldn’t possibly understand how you feel? Or that He’s not concerned enough to meet your needs? Did you know that Jesus weeps with you? Did you know He puts all your tears in a bottle because they are precious to Him? (Ps. 56:8, NKJV) He has said in all of your afflictions, He Himself is afflicted. Why? Because He understands! And He loves you! Your suffering is His. Your grief is His. Your tears are on His face! … [Read more...]

By Joe McKeever “God is Watching.”  –sign over the door of Gwen Williams’ home in Picayune, Mississippi. John Ed Mathiston told his congregation in Montgomery, Alabama a story about kindness. “Not long ago, a man from the Middle East walked into a new car showroom and asked to speak with a particular salesperson.  The receptionist called for him, the fellow walked to the front, and they greeted each other. The foreigner said, “I’d like to buy some trucks.” Some trucks. That caught the sales guy’s attention. “What did you have in mind, sir?” “I want to buy 750 heavy duty trucks and 250 pickups.” The salesman is stunned.  Surely someone is pulling a prank.  This cannot be happening. The Middle Easterner pulls out a letter of credit with a huge American bank.  It is legitimate. This is the real deal. The salesman says, “Sir, you know you can go to Detroit and buy those trucks at a huge discount.” The customer said,”Sir, ten years ago I was a college student in your city.  Being from the Middle East made it hard for Americans to befriend me.  I soon discovered you have to have a car in America, so I came to you.  I picked out a car.  You said to me, ‘I can sell you that car and I’ll make a nice … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey John Adams, our second president, was a man of deep belief. This is what he said about the Word of God and the power of the Gospel: “Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God. . .What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be.” Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence and father of the American revolution looked forward to the coming of God’s Kingdom: “I conceive that we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that the end of tyrants may be broken to pieces, and the oppressed made free again; that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is … [Read more...]

By Ron F. Hale “This is for Allah!” shouted the assailants as seven people were killed on London Bridge and the Borough Market with 48 other people injured. Three attackers were shot dead during their rampage of indiscriminately stabbing people. This deadly incident follows on the heels of the May 22nd act of Islamic terrorism at Manchester Arena. Today, key leaders around the world exhibit emotionally disjointed thinking in dealing with the threat of ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism. Without clear objectives by national leaders, their subordinates find it difficult to organize priorities in the war on terror. WHAT WOULD WINSTON DO? Winston Churchill would have never allowed Nazi soldiers to casually fly in and out of London’s Croydon, Gatwick, and Heathrow airports in the throes of WWII. Yet, the recent suicide bomber in Manchester, England, was free as a feral pigeon flying back-and-forth from the Middle East despite being on a terror watch list. This lack of strategic action is criminal and 22 Brits, many of them children, are dead. After their deaths, grieving families were subjected to the dead bodies of their loved ones being warehoused for examination. Yet, who is examining the minds and hearts of government … [Read more...]

By Judy A. Bates, GuideStone Financial Resources A father’s love will shape a man’s life—even if it doesn’t come from his own dad. Just ask Elvis Durrill. Elvis was born in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. One of nine children born to Otha Earl and Minnie Durrill, his young life on the farm was hard and filled with manual labor. His father was not a religious man, but taught his children not to lie, steal or cheat. It was from his mother that Elvis learned of God’s loving care. However, it was the pretty blond girl sitting a few pews ahead of him that had drawn him to church that day. By the time the preacher finished the sermon, Elvis forgot about the girl because God had gotten ahold of his heart. He made a profession of faith and 12-year-old Elvis ran home to tell his mom about his salvation experience. His excitement was short-lived. As Elvis burst through the door shouting with exhilaration, he heard his dad in the backroom laughing at him. “I told you he was simple-minded,” Elvis remembers his dad saying to his mom. The joy in his heart was immediately doused and it would be many years before Elvis would be open to God’s tug on his heart. A short year later, Elvis found himself living on the … [Read more...]

By Martha Bailey Demented. Deranged. Unhinged. Hatred. These were the type words used in the news I heard the day after an attempted assassin brutally wounded Congressman Steve Scalise and three others. Sadly, it seems he intended to leave much more carnage. It was premeditated and deliberate. Had it not been for two valiant police officers on the scene, he would have succeeded. How sad. How evil. What has happened to America? When did we forget that there are lines over which we dare not step? What happened to good manners and common decency? When did everything become gray where we don’t know what is right and what is wrong? When did truth mean whatever we want it to mean? Our country crossed the line when it compromised its values many decades ago and has been on a slippery slope ever since. Morality went out the window as did respect for other Christian principles. In his instructions to Timothy, a young minister, the apostle Paul warned him about what would happen to men’s hearts as the time grew closer to the Second Coming. Look at Paul’s description in his letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-5): ~There will be terrible times in the last days. ~People will be lovers of themselves. ~People will … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn If you live in my part of the world (South Louisiana) you likely have seen a headline in recent days that indicated, “All Eyes on Gulf” or something similar. We are waiting to see how much rain we get with a Tropical System. After a similar system last August which flooded us to point that some still have not been able to return to their homes, we tend to get a little jittery with such headlines. Maybe the headline is not “All Eyes on Gulf.” It might be “All Eyes on Trump” or “Russia” or “North Korea.” The truth is we wait for the next news. Some wait for the next episode of their favorite show. Some watch their online bank account for the next automatic payroll “drop.” We live in a day when we “watch” Facebook or Twitter for our “friend’s” (or “enemy’s”) next post. The point is we live “to watch.” The writer of Proverbs gave us a wise word about watching. As wisdom is personified, the writer of Proverbs said, “Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors every day, waiting by the posts of my doorway.” (Proverbs 8:34) I heard the weatherman say that the next advisory on the storm comes at 10 a.m. I need to make a decision about something so I am waiting for that advisory. As I … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn Manuel Noriega, former dictator of Panama who became a Christian in prison, once said as he pointed to the Bible, “There’s the book that tells me what His will is for my life. It has changed me.” Dr. Rick Byargeon, Old Testament scholar, teacher, preacher, and my friend, asked his wife for his Bible hours before he died, held it up, and said, “I gave my life to the study of this book.” The Apostle Paul in writing to Timothy said, “When you come . . . bring the scrolls, especially the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13) Our church, as well as countless others, is having Vacation Bible School this week. I am praying for lives to be changed, children to fall in love with Jesus, and begin a life-long study of the Bible. Last Sunday, in preparation for our week of Bible School, I preached from Joshua 1. I love this text. In verses 7-8, we read these instructions and a promise about the Word of God. Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you … [Read more...]