It’s Time to Go!
Here I was again, cold, alone, and in the dark; trying to get away from the sound by plugging my ears from the banging of metal hitting human flesh. Even though I could not see anything from where I sat huddled underneath the kitchen table, I tightly closed my eyes with the echo of every pounding blow. Why would they be doing this? I thought. Why would these people be so evil as to do something so terrible and gruesome to an innocent man? Oh please stop, please stop!
Stay on the Path
We live in dark times. And God’s Word makes it clear that our surroundings and culture will only get worse and increasingly act out in depravity – in every form – in the days ahead. Yes, we are hopeful and prayerful for a spiritual awakening in the world.
Yet there is no mistaking it. When you and I walked out these doors, we are entering a world that is largely opposed to Christ and/or intentionally ignorant of God and His Good News. They don’t want to hear that sin deserves punishment. They don’t want to really be bothered by the notion of an eternity in either heaven or hell. They want to live their way and would be extremely irritated by anyone telling them what they are doing is wrong.
Foretastes of the Rain
Yesterday afternoon, as I was talking with Hudson about all the rainy weather we’ve been experiencing, I remembered a little jingle we used to sing as kids, “rain, rain, go away, come again another day…” Hudson enthusiastically bobbed up and down and ran around the house shouting at 110 decibels, “it’s rain’in… Ooo…rain’in!!!” Lately, he’s been turning everything into a song or jumbled rhapsody of joy. Stephanie and I don’t mind at all, that is, unless he scrapes up to the far reaches of 120-130 piercing decibels. Oh yes, he can pull this feat off at any given moment without warning. Yet, we love our little buddy just the same.
The Ruckus about Rain
All this ruckus about rain around our house got me thinking. So often we complain about the rain – especially when three or four days go by without any warm sunshine. Such was becoming the case around the Breznau home. Yet, then I remembered a time not too long ago when rain was a very welcome relief.
Good Christians, Good Husbands?
In our technological, philosophical, intellectual, and global society it is often inferred that we are somehow far wiser and smarter than our forebears. While this may be true to some degree, in many ways such an idea could not be further from the truth. Books on ministry mentoring, marital harmony, and life balancing seem to be more numerous than the sands of the seashore, yet serious problems in these sectors seem to be greater than ever before. Pastors are dropping out of the ministry due to a whole number of dreadful failures, just as many marriages are splintering inside the Church as are without, and balancing life seems like a three-ring circus of cell-phones, video conferencing, and instant messaging.
In all our swirling activity, are we any better off?
God’s Tears and the Tornado
We’re not afraid of the Day after Tomorrow. No, we are torn and tear-stained because it is the day after yesterday. Why did life have to rip apart… yesterday? The singular event engulfing thousands of minds today is what happened yesterday.
Today, hundreds of moms and dads, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and grandmas and grandpas are attempting to piece the puzzle of life together amid tear-stained eyes and aching hearts.