One of my heroes in the faith, and the best Christian apologist I know, is Ravi Zacharias. Here, he answers a hard question posed by a young man who was at the end of his rope, with regards to why should he go on living, since life seemed so meaningless. When a person possesses such a question, it takes not only knowledge and skill to answer gracefully, but also a loving heart.
When Dr. King made this famous quote, it became a pillar in the civil rights movement and a statement that resonated with the American people.
People don’t want to be judged by others for things they can’t change, but for things they develop in their lives. Dr. King was attempting to reason with the American people that judging a person by their skin color or nationality was wrong. People should be evaluated by their character, which is the sum total of their choices.
The dictionary definition of character is also more than a person’s reputation. It is, “the complex of mental and ethical traits making up the person.” A secondary definition is, “the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s ire which determines his or her response regardless of circumstances.”
Here’s the deal: Our country as a whole no longer looks at character to determine a person’s value, rather their words create our perspective of who someone is.
Reading time: 2 min
I think for some Christians, the idea of Good Friday seems a bit strange when it’s all about Jesus dying on the cross and such a terrible death. How could people possibly think that someone dying in such a way was good? Christians should.
As a young man without Christ, I use to think it odd that Christians “Celebrated” the death of Jesus. It wasn’t until I understood that Christ dying was to set people free from sin and shame, that I finally appreciated the day. It is something I need to remind myself of regularly, lest I take his love and sacrifice for granted, and I slip back into a destructive lifestyle.
Reading time: 2 min
For the past year since the election, our country has been in an all out fight over each side of congress blaming the other side of breaking the law and conducting their job unfairly. Now this is nothing new, but it has heated up more than normal. This is the first time where an elected president is being attempted to being impeached by Democrats even before he was elected.
Somehow, we have gotten so messed up on the definition of what is “Just & Fair” that we think it means, “It’s just and fair if it goes my way”.
It seems to appear that after one year of investigating President Trump for collusion that the evidence is pointing to Hilary and the Democratic Party sneaking around and using the government agencies to attack and undermine our democracy and not President Trump. They appear to have broken the laws of our country and they don’t like being held accountable.
Reading time: 5 min
Have you ever considered how trusting we are at times?
Take Flying for instance. If you get on a Airbus 340-500 or bigger plane, you probably never met the pilot, yet you have faith he can operate the plane safely and get you to your destination in one piece. How do you know he has enough experience flying a piece of metal that weighs 805,000 pounds? The plane can carry 372 passengers and fly over 4,000 miles on one tank of fuel. It can fly at 567 miles an hour and is 223 feet long. Wow! We seem to just accept by “Faith” that the pilot can handle it. But why do we have such faith?
Reading time: 2 min
In 1984, Wendy’s restaurant ran a very funny ad about other hamburger restaurants having lots of bun, but very little beef. The ad was to counter MacDonald’s and Burger King by saying they just had big buns and no beef. It became an instant hit!
The idea of “Over Exaggerations” in advertising started to catch on and branch off into all different directions including the 1984 presidential campaign. Walter Mondale used it in his debates. The public resonated with being told one thing and experiencing another. Everyone knew the truth was finally being spoken.
Reading time: 2 min
I recently got an anchor tattoo on my left arm relating to Jesus being my anchor.
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.
For my 66th birthday, I got my second tattoo relating to God being my rock and had a rock mountain drawn with scripture.
Reading time: 1 min
For most of us, the honest ones, we want to be taken by others as being people of our word. We want people to treat us as having value that is more than skin deep and really dependable. But what makes a person of character is a person who says what they mean and mean what they say.
Because of being wide awake at 11pm last night, I watched a film I have seen before called, “Hacksaw Ride”. The film focuses on the World War II experiences of Desmond Doss, an American pacifist combat medic who, as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, refused to carry or use a weapon or firearm of any kind. Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Okinawa. He saved 75 men who were left for dead because of two major foundations in his life.
Reading time: 3 min
People have all kinds of methods of praying. Some feel they need to fold their hands. Some feel the need to kneel or lay prostrate on the floor or ground. Some lift their hand and heads, and others bow their heads. The question is ….. is there a right or wrong way to pray?
Some years ago, I had the privilege of visiting the Middle East, in particular, the land of Israel. While in Jerusalem, I went to the Western Wall also called the wailing wall, where people from all over the world come and bring their special prayers written on small pieces of paper to be put in the cracks between the stone. This wall is special because it is all that remains of Solomon’s original temple.
Reading time: 4 min
Over the last 100 years or so, our lives have been so shaped by the huge technological advancements that we can start to believe man has figured out the universe pretty well and we don’t need God anymore.
This “belief” in our own intelligence and the power of huge super computers has made our culture believe that a belief in a supernatural creator is obsolete, and only for the weak-minded amongst us. That is until you pull back the “green curtain” like in the wizard of Oz.
I grew up watching the Wizard of Oz every year. It was in color, as few movies on tv were. In the movie there seems to be this “powerful” wizard that knew everything and could do anything. The problem was, he couldn’t. He was just a smart guy with a lot of fancy gadgets the “wowed” people.
Reading time: 4 min
Meet Dale Jensen, Author, Church Planter, Pastor, Mentor
