I suppose if Paul had been a real man, he would never have written Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.” Real men do not faint. They always have it together. Real men do not lose heart. They have all the answers. Real men speak, and it is done, for wives and children exist to obey their every command.                 But in God’s world, the strongest men and women become weary, even exhausted. Sowing and rea

Occasions for discouragement are many. We live in a fallen world, and we are fallen. Every person experiences degrees of pain and loss, trouble and sorrow, sickness and weakness, betrayal and sudden, shocking setbacks. These do not happen to all in the same measure, but that they happen counsels us to have realistic expectations about our lives in this world.  We must take seriously God’s explanation for life and its troubles. Unbelieving men and practitioners usually assume

When offered his share of Nebuchadnezzar’s delicacies, Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s food.” Daniel did not think to himself: “When in Rome, do as the Romans.” He did not get himself a new set of convictions, as many do today when they leave home. Undoubtedly my parents were too strict. I suspect they abused me, for they would not allow me to live as I please. The church has her share of these “Dinah’s,” who leave the security o