My older brother and I used to dam up the creek in the woods near our house (what did you think I meant?). The woods were hilly so the creek was swift. The soil was heavy with clay and perfect for plugging spaces between the “boulders” we would tumble into the water to form our makeshift dams. It was so much fun! We loved making the dams; but even more, we loved destroying them (hey, we were boys!) and then…
The wrong kind of fear of God will eat your lunch. It is the true playground bully, who robs every believer that he can of the peace and joy of knowing we are being watched over by an ever-loving God. This demon-inspired fear makes Christians afraid of what God might do, or of what He might allow, or of what He might ask of them. Consequently, they try to stay within the moral boundaries (because of their fear of punishment), but they…
Ah, the monkey trap… What is it you may ask? Only a most ingenious way to catch those tasty, high flying monkeys, dreamed up by hungry, indigenous people on the jungle floor! The beauty of it is that the monkey trap uses the exasperating nature of the monkey against him. Imagine the poor natives taunted and at times pelted by these irascible creatures who stay safely out of reach in the branches above them and you will …
I had a vision of a living prayer chain. First the background: dear friends were telling me about a situation very much like one going on in our own lives. Someone they love has a grown child who is entangled in a desperately painful situation that child shouldn’t be in in the first place. Perhaps you have close ties to someone who is “in a relationship with” an alcoholic, or a crack addict, or someone who is abusing them—the list is…