Recently, via the media, American Christians received a terrible taste of what the word “persecution” means to millions of our brothers and sisters around the world. People marching into some place you ought to be safe and ending your mortal life to express their direct objection to your faith. Of course, it also means churches meeting in secret, since it is illegal for you to gather with other believers for worship, being restricted in how you earn your living, risks of your home and business (of any sort) and church being torched because of your faith. It is rare for people in my area ofRead More →

By Adam Graham Note from Andrea: This article begins a two-part series on prayer by a special guest blogger, my sweet, thoughtful husband. The second part will post next Thursday. The Kendrick Brothers’ latest film, War Room, finished second at last weekend’s box office. The film focuses on the power of prayer. For many, that’s a problem. Some have accused the film of preaching a prosperity gospel that says all you have to do is pray in faith and your family’s problems will all go away. I see the film as a mostly positive illustration of the power of prayer, but I also see howRead More →

The most dangerous anger I’ve witnessed lately is righteous indignation. The reason it is dangerous is humans aren’t righteous. We are most prone to do ugly things to each other when we’re angry and either it is justified or we believe we are justified. [tweetthis remove_twitter_handles=”true” remove_hidden_hashtags=”true” remove_hidden_urls=”true”]Most dangerous anger: righteous indignation. We’re most prone to do ugly things when justifiably angry.[/tweetthis] It saddens me that so many grown adults behave as if they honestly believe “I am angry, and you were wrong, therefore you are no longer worthy of my respect, kindness, or being treated fairly, and I have every right to lash outRead More →

In my mid-teens, I wrote the following poem: The Box I locked my heart in a tin box And threw away the key. I ran from all like the fox, But someday it will return to me.   Though I lost my tin box in my flight, It returned to me to my surprise. But alas, where is the key? Without it, there is no hope for me.   So I must ask: Who has my key? Would you please return it to me? Guess who had the key? When I look through the poetry I wrote in my teens, the ones not dedicated toRead More →

An evil, gnarled hand clawed at the throat of the woman in white. She sat up in bed and declared to the darkness boldly, “Spirit of Fear, how dare you trouble a child of God, be gone!” Only her own pounding heart and racing pulse responded, every fiber of her body still on alert for the danger that wasn’t there. What was wrong with her? Why wouldn’t Fear stop tormenting her and leave? She caught the gnarled hand and dragged the creature before the throne of God. The light was blinding, coming in out of the dark. “Lord, please deliver me of this spirit ofRead More →