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In this audio clip, Randy answers a question about what it means to bear fruit.

In this audio clip, Randy answers a question about salvation. 

In this audio clip, Randy answers a question about God's plan and our free will.

In this audio clip, Randy answers a question about God's judgment to Moses in Exodus.

Satan has conned many people into a twisted view of the Christian life. We imagine that God calls us to do things that won’t be good for us, while the unbelievers are out there having all the fun. 

Last week, 99-year-old Billy Graham entered the presence of Jesus. In 1970, as a brand new Christian, I heard Billy Graham for the first time at a crusade in Portland, Oregon. His friend George Beverly Shea, the soloist who preceded Billy in song in Crusades over the span of nearly sixty years, sang How Great Thou Art. 

I love the psalms, because of their beauty and because the wide range of emotions they contain grant us permission to express to God our honest questions, doubts, griefs, and despair. My friend Jon Bloom, board chair and co-founder of Desiring God, wrote about two back-to-back psalms and the powerful message their proximity expresses.

Back when I started my blog, I recommended the excellent book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, who are both Christ-centered young men of character and vision.  A few years ago, Brett’s wife Ana was diagnosed with late stage Lyme Disease. Life has been extremely difficult for them, but I’ve been touched by their faith in Jesus and commitment to each other throughout their trials.

Most of us aren’t professional athletes, but career disappointments and personal failures in family relationships and whatever we do are just some of the many ways we become disillusioned. Listen to quarterback Nick Foles talk about how past failures have shaped him as a person.

The New International Version rendering of John 14:2 is this: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you.” Place is singular, but rooms is plural. This suggests Jesus has in mind for each of us an individual dwelling that’s a smaller part of the larger place. This place will be home to us in the most unique sense.

Write only those books you are absolutely convinced God wants you to. Not just books that are good ideas, but ideas that you’re personally passionate about and fit your heart, convictions, wiring, and style, not someone else’s.

Your observations about the western church are, in my opinion, sadly accurate (and I don’t pretend to be unaffected by them either). 

Families are God’s precious gift to us, and they require our attention even in days of pressure and busyness. Here are three verses about wives and children, followed by some links to resources.

One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1981 Chariots of Fire. It’s the only reason many people are familiar with Eric Liddell, the “Flying Scotsman” who shocked the world by refusing to run the one hundred meters in the 1924 Paris Olympics, a race he was favored to win.