In one scene of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, many people were standing around the doors of a grand palace waiting to go in. But they were afraid of the armed soldiers blocking the entrance. Then a brave man arrived and identified himself to the gatekeeper. “Write down my name, sir!” Then armed with a sword…

Paul wrote: “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. . . . I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12, 14). If you are like me, you may be asking yourself, but…

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is about a miserly old businessman named Ebenezer Scrooge who is confronted with the festivities of Christmas. His response to Christmas is “Bah! Humbug.” He has no time for Christmas, and he bitterly resents how the holiday gets in the way of what’s really important – running a business…

The Old Testament prophet Elijah went through a high point in his life in calling down fire from heaven and vanquishing Baal worship. Wicked queen Jezebel then retaliated, telling him, “I’m coming after you.” This single message took Elijah from a place of immense spiritual victory suddenly to feel as if the bottom dropped out…

Can you imagine with me hearing God saying, “Enough is enough”? “Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire” (Psalm 46:8-9). The psalmist…

In ancient times, a fortress could be a naturally defensible location like a rocky outcrop or a cave, a garrison fort, a fortified city, or a citadel within a city. As a young boy, I enjoyed building “forts” in the woods with fallen tree limbs and branches. I would hide in my fort in my…

The psalmist emphasized that as long as God lived among God’s people, the city of Jerusalem was invincible. “God is within her, she will not fall” (Psalm 46:5). Pause for a moment and let that sink in. However, God tested Israel by having them surrounded by pagan nations (Judges 2:22). Centuries later Jerusalem did fall….

Many great cities of the world were built on or around rivers: Nile in Cairo, Egypt. Río de la Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Yamuna in Delhi, India. Pearl in Hong Kong, China. Thames in London, England. Moskva in Moscow, Russia. Han in Seoul, South Korea. Hudson in New York City. Rivers supplied drinking water…

Hurricane Isabel was front-page news in September 2003 as it rampaged through the Middle Atlantic States, coming ashore first in all its fury near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, site of one of America’s most famous lighthouses. When the storm hit Hatteras, the only road to the outside was destroyed. Oceanfront houses were swept from their…

Sometimes when I have felt anxiety or fear, it was triggered by something specific. Other times it was just a vague sense of dread as though I was about to receive some bad news. Isaiah tells us that God is “a refuge for the needy in their distress” (Isaiah 25:4). The psalmist tells us the…