“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”—Luke 15:31-32
Let’s face it. Adult children are moving back home in droves.
In fact, 1 in 3 adult children, ages 25- to 34-years-old, live at home according to a new report from the Census Bureau. Out of the millennials who live at home, 1 in 4 don’t even work or go to school. In other words, 2.2 million millennials live at their parents’ home without making any progress to become an adult.
Elephants weigh up to 15,000 pounds and stand as high as 13 feet tall. Yet, they can be held captive by a single small rope or chain.
No doubt, fully-grown elephants could easily break their chains. But since they are chained at such a young age, they grow up in captivity thinking there is no use struggling against their chains.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” – Matthew 5:9
Jesus spoke these words during the Sermon on the Mount. It is one of eight blessings in the Gospel of Matthew commonly known as the Beatitudes.
See MoreAt one time or another, every human being needs healing.
Meet GRACE. Grace is divine, a gift from God to you.
Forgiveness doesn't come naturally to anyone. Perhaps the main reason is that it is so basically and totally unfair.
"Let us examine and probe our ways." (Lamentations 3:40)
Back in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve about ownership: "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Gen. 1:28).
Katherine Lester was in love. This was no schoolgirl crush. She had met the man of her dreams and was prepared to travel half a world away from her Michigan home to be with him.
Memories define our lives, and yet we never stop long enough to count the cost of how much we miss when we travel.
I noticed when my parents started showing their forgiveness of me. It did not mean they approved of what I did or prevent them from punishing me. But it did allow me to start over with a clean state, a new beginning.
Whenever we struggle in a sinful habit that we cannot break or when we get caught in some unpleasantness that has no end in sight, the idea of finding a purpose in it seems like nothing more than pious platitude.
What if my spouse or a family member isn't a Christian?
What does it mean when my prayers seem to go unanswered?
Joseph was the pride and joy of his father.
A healthy faith is based in reality.
Leo Tolstoy opened his famous story Anna Karenina with one of the most quoted lines in literature: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Let’s think a little about that. Is it true? Are all happy families alike?
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”—Luke 15:31-32
Let’s face it. Adult children are moving back home in droves.
In fact, 1 in 3 adult children, ages 25- to 34-years-old, live at home according to a new report from the Census Bureau. Out of the millennials who live at home, 1 in 4 don’t even work or go to school. In other words, 2.2 million millennials live at their parents’ home without making any progress to become an adult.
Elephants weigh up to 15,000 pounds and stand as high as 13 feet tall. Yet, they can be held captive by a single small rope or chain.
No doubt, fully-grown elephants could easily break their chains. But since they are chained at such a young age, they grow up in captivity thinking there is no use struggling against their chains.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” – Matthew 5:9
Jesus spoke these words during the Sermon on the Mount. It is one of eight blessings in the Gospel of Matthew commonly known as the Beatitudes.
It’d be nice if healing a broken relationship could be achieved with the right Hallmark card and some beautiful flowers, but it doesn’t work that way. We must bring so much more to the table.
We have a list of people to blame for our troubles, addictions and dependencies or for every problem we can’t fix. For years, we’ve been saying, “If only he would…..” or, “If only she wouldn’t…” (You can finish these thoughts, right?) We would love to make a fearless, moral inventory of everyone else—that sounds much more doable than making an inventory of ourselves. The thought that we are in some way responsible for our troubles is not only scary, it just seems so wrong. “It’s not my fault—it’s everyone else’s fault.” To begin to take responsibility for our own lives feels like it’s too much. We can’t change the way we think, so our spiritual life dries up and stops.
When you venture out and make connections with new people, you meet all kinds. You likely can’t date every eligible prospect you meet, and you probably don’t want to. So how do you decide who to date, who to engage as a friend only, and from whom you should walk away while muttering under your breath, “No way, Jose!” Sometimes you won’t know the answer until you’ve been around a person once or twice. But you can learn a lot about potential date before you ever go out with them.
My wife and I love to dance! We’re not the greatest dancers, but we dance. If we are in a shopping mall and the music is perfect for a swing and a twirl, then we take a break and dance. We have been known to dance our way to the top of an elevator while people sigh and laugh and say they wish they had someone to dance with. If the music that catches our ear is slow, we will dance slowly. But we love faster tunes where we can twirl and spin under each other’s arms. I fold her into me, and then I spin her out. I lead, she follows, and for a few short moments, the tough realities we face go away. We are each other’s and it is evident we enjoy being a couple.
I find that there is often confusion about the difference between a wall and a boundary. Too often, what people believe is a wall is actually a boundary, and what they believe is a boundary becomes a wall. How do I distinguish between a wall I keep walking into and a boundary that allows me to walk in light and freedom? There are some vital distinctions.
Our world is filled with tension. Often the struggles in the marketplace slip through our front gate and sweep into our backyards. Even if the issues don’t directly touch us, the problems have a way of boring into our thoughts and feelings.
Take a look around you. Can you see everything in your surroundings? Most of us would say yes. But the truth is, whether your vision is 20/20 or corrected by lenses, the answer is the same: no matter how hard you try, you cannot see everything around you.
Are you dating “the one?” How can you know for sure?
There’s an old proverb that says, Marriage with peace is this word’s paradise,
and I believe it. But marriages that last are, in great part, the product of better
decision-making before couples say, “I do.” Without this crucial front-end
investment in dating and courtship, a marriage runs the risk of living out the
second half of that old proverb: Marriage with strife is this world’s purgatory.
But how do you beat the odds in your own journey toward a rich, fulfilling,
lifelong marriage? Whether you’re dating seriously, dating casually, or not
dating at all, your odds for a great marriage are way greater than the divorce
rate. Why? Because you’re still single! You’re still on the dating side, where
great marriages begin.
I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m suppose to feel. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that. But I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.
From the animated television special A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Thanksgiving is too wonderful a holiday to let slip by without some intentional, active gratitude. But unless we’re deliberate, that’s exactly what will happen. Already busy lives seem to be compounded this time of year, right? By the time Thanksgiving Day arrives, we can be so emotionally and physically tired from all the prep or travel that the actual “giving thanks” gets lost.
Jesus made it clear that while sexual integrity is expressed through the body, it’s rooted in the mind. But aligning our thoughts with God’s thoughts isn’t always easy. Illicit sexual thoughts don’t need to have free rein in your mind. The Bible provides an arsenal of weapons to win the battle. Jesus invites you to live with full sexual integrity—in your behavior, heart, and mind. Instead of succumbing to the despair and darkness of sin, you can take every thought captive and replace it with thoughts that align with God’s truth, allowing Him to bring about His best for your life.
