"Redeem the time," Paul says, "for the days are evil."

Or maybe it's me.

I have been thinking a lot about two of Jesus' agricultural metaphors regarding ministry over the past few years.

First, "Put your hand to the plow and don't look back." I have been doing that in my ministry. I have had an extremely strong conviction that I am to follow my calling in the place where I am and not waste energy thinking ...

The Question of God: Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis explores the most basic and meaningful questions about life by contrasting the views of Freud and Lewis.

In this clip, a photograph shows Freud standing between his two adult sons. The narrator says, "But there was another category of human misery not created by people, and against which there was no defense." Freud is shown in another photo with his ...

Why didn't any changes occur or any love or help come when I accepted you as Lord and Savior?

—Matthew Murray, in a letter addressed to God that was found in his car after he shot and killed two people at a Youth With a Mission training center and then was himself killed by a security guard at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in December 2007

Text: "For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor" (Isaiah 9:4).

Purpose: To give a striking, memorable, exegetically accurate picture of what the Messiah came to do

Principle: The coming Messiah sets us free from our burdens, our prisons, and our fears.

Object: Three 4-foot long rods, ¾ inch in ...

According to a recent study by the World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School, America may very well be the saddest nation in the world. Researchers found that 9.6 percent of Americans suffer from depression or bipolar disorder—the highest among 14 major nations polled. Those nations that scored better than the U.S. suffer from ongoing wars and rumors of war (Lebanon), vast unemployment ...

In the final film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, Frodo and Sam climb Mount Doom carrying the ring of power. The only way to save Middle Earth from the forces of evil is to destroy the ring by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom.

The climb up the mountain is treacherous. Fireballs hurl through the air like meteors. Lava seeps down the smoke-shrouded mountain. Gollum, ...

The answer to suffering cannot just be an abstract idea, because this isn't an abstract issue; it's a personal issue. It requires a personal response. It's not a bunch of words, it's the Word. It's not a tightly woven philosophical argument; it's a person. The person. The answer must be someone, not just something, because the issue involves someone—God, where are you?"

—Peter J. Kreeft, ...

Have you ever felt dirty, broken, or worthless? Everyone has.

But if someone offered you a $20 bill, would you take it? What if that person wadded it up and threw it on the ground—would you still want it? What if they stepped on it, kicked it, and even spit on it? Could you still go to the store and spend it?

The answer is yes. That bill has value because of what it is, not because of how it looks, ...

Rick Field is a 41-year-old bachelor, with degrees from Andover and Yale, who has decided to spend his life making pickles. The career change came after losing his job producing a National Public Radio program.

When Field announces his occupation at parties, the responses are interesting. "People will come up to me and say, 'So what do you do?' and I'll say, 'I'm a pickler,' and they'll say, 'But I ...

David Little was known as a man of strength. This former linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers had an impressive career in the National Football League. During his 12 seasons with the Steelers, Little started 125 of the 179 games and once played in 89 in a row. In 1990 he was voted to the Pro Bowl.

Neither Little nor his wife knew the stellar athlete had an enlarged heart. On March 17, 2005, while ...