Fear is something we have to deal with in every stage of life. Our fears typically change as we do. When I was a young boy, I was afraid my parents would die and I wouldn’t have anyone to raise me. As a young parent, I was concerned about the kind of world our children would have to live in. Now that I’m in my late 40s and more mature in my Christian faith, I try not to fear. The truth is sometimes fears still arise in me.

If you’re honest, you have fears too because we live in a world of uncertainty and evil. We understand the uncertainty. The state of the U.S. economy is always on our minds because it affects our livelihood. Every year we wonder if there will be the proper mixture of rain and sunshine for our crops and gardens to be fruitful. We never know when accidents, sickness or financial problems will come upon us. (more…)

Unless there are medical issues, helping conceive a child isn’t too difficult for most men. Being a good father to that child is one of the hardest things any man can do. Thankfully, all throughout the Bible, God gives men commands about how they should live. Ephesians 5:25-33 says, “²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Many times, husbands hear this command and automatically think, “I do love my wife like Christ loved the church. He died for his bride. I’d die for mine.” If this is you, let me ask you a question. How many men do you know of that have actually had to die for their wives? (more…)

How many times have you or someone you know asked God a “why” question? Why did this illness have to strike me? Why did I lose my job? Why did you allow this person to hurt me? Why do you allow 20,000 people a day to starve to death around the world? God, why did you take this person away from me?

The difficult problem with these questions is we simply can’t answer them in ways which brings complete understanding and healing to our hurting hearts. This causes many people to doubt God and possibly even walk away from their faith altogether.

Some Christians, with the best of intentions, try to bring comfort by taking this concept and turning it from a negative question into a positive statement. “Well, God is in charge of who gets elected president.” “God gave me this chronic illness so I’m going to trust him.” And, to quote Job 1:21, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Here’s a question we need to wrestle with: Is God really responsible for the difficulties and suffering that are in the world? (more…)