The American church suffers (among other maladies) from a severe case of chronological snobbery—the idea that we know better than the ancients that precede us. Because we feel we have become more advanced in our perceptions of the world around us, we tend to think we have outgrown the teaching, prayers, and examples of those who came before us. What we sometimes fail to understand, however, is...
Going to bed and turning out the lights can be a hard time for many children. It’s scary when you can’t see what is around you and your mom and dad leave the room. To help parents comfort and encourage their little ones at bedtime, award-winning author Champ Thornton has written Why Do We Say Good Night? Beautifully designed and illustrated by Rommel Ruiz, Why Do We Say Good Night? tells the...
“How can I be sure that God is real?” Kyle asked me. “And if he is, why does he let so many horrible things happen every day?” “Yeah, and aren’t there a ton of errors in the Bible?” Ben cut in, before my mouth even opened to answer Kyle. “How can we trust that it’s actually the Word of God?” Ben and Kyle were two college students I worked with who were battling some serious doubts about God. A...
We hate to see our children sad, but we also know there are many griefs to come, so now is a rich opportunity to help our children grow in the midst of sorrow. Many of us wish we had the same opportunity when we were younger to learn about how Jesus helps us in our sadness. It’s especially hard for children when they experience their first loss. The loss could be a pet, friendship, a friend, a...
Do you remember Bob Newhart? He is an older comedian—but can be still found on reruns of The Big Bang Theory as Professor Proton. One of my favorite of his earlier sketches was about a counselor who charges $1 a minute for the first 5 minutes, then nothing after that. How could he do that? I’ll get to that. A woman named Katherine Bigman comes to him for help with her paralyzing fears. Newhart...
