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If you are working a “secular” job, you are not second class in God’s Kingdom. You are no less called or gifted than a pastor or a missionary. Your ministry is to represent Jesus in your own sphere of influence.

Though most pets have a short lifespan compared to humans, they occupy an important place in our hearts while they are with us. A pet is part of daily life in a way few friends are. We can affirm people’s greater worth, while still missing a pet more because of that daily bond.

In my last blog, I shared John Piper’s reflections on turning 80. What follows is not a biography of John, but just a personal remembrance of some of the connections I have had with him over the past forty years.

John Piper’s 80th birthday was earlier this year. Piper’s life and ministry, books, and his insights and passion for God, have been a great gift to me and Nanci and our children and grandchildren, and countless others.

Once we had a moral consensus. Not everybody lived by the standard, but they recognized it. The words of Judges 21:25 seem eerily prophetic of our times: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (NASB).

This is a wonderful article by Kevin DeYoung, one of my favorite writers. Kevin rightly diagnosis our greatest need in life—that is, to behold Jesus.

I’ve recommended before Robert Wolgemuth’s excellent book Finish Line: Dispelling Fear, Finding Peace, and Preparing for the End of Your Life. One of our staff members came across what Joni Eareckson Tada wrote in the foreword to Robert’s book, and it’s just wonderful.

Do you have family and friends you wish you could spend more time with? In Heaven you’ll have unlimited time. I’m eager to spend time again with my childhood friend Jerry, who died years ago. I anticipate meeting him in Heaven and picking up right where we left off.

According to Scripture, animals praise God. They don’t worship as we do, but why should they? They’re not human. Their worship of God may be as intuitive as their other God-given instincts—which are different from ours, and in some cases superior.

Our ministry was sent this video from a ministry focused on giving clean water, rescuing children, providing mobile medical clinics, and planting churches. One of their donors, attorney Peter Manning, was deeply impacted by my book The Treasure Principle.

Once you’ve accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, being ready to meet the Lord means living in a way that pleases Him so that whenever He calls you home—and knowing that could be any time—you can hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” 

By God’s grace, Nanci and I found we could give away my book royalties and a good portion of our discretionary income, yet still have breathing room for legitimate recreational spending (and what we kept still left us wealthy in comparison with most people in the world). 

In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis paints a beautiful picture of the New Earth in the final book, The Last Battle. The book begins with a near collision of a railroad train, where the children are thrust into Narnia.

In 1988, I was on staff as a missions pastor at our church. Nanci and I sensed God’s leading to take our daughters, Karina and Angela, who were then nine and seven, and spend two months visiting our church’s missionary families in Egypt, Kenya, Greece, Austria, and England.