A common theme in literature, movies, and in fact, any tool of story-telling, is “good versus evil.” When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I watched more westerns and war movies than I care to count. In all of these, there was a battle or war between the good and the bad: those who fought for righteousness and truth, and those who were profoundly immoral and wicked.

A common theme in literature, movies, and in fact, any tool of story-telling, is “good versus evil.” When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I watched more westerns and war movies than I care to count. In all of these, there was a battle or war between the good and the bad: those who fought for righteousness and truth, and those who were profoundly immoral and wicked.

A common theme in literature, movies, and in fact, any tool of story-telling, is “good versus evil.” When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I watched more westerns and war movies than I care to count. In all of these, there was a battle or war between the good and the bad: those who fought for righteousness and truth, and those who were profoundly immoral and wicked.

The word confidence is used many times in Scripture. The majority of uses concern firm trust in people, circumstances, or God. Scripture tells us not to put our confidence in some things. For example, Philippians 3:3 says, “We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.” Here the Apostle Paul is saying that human achievements, no matter how impressive, cannot earn a person salvation with God.

Time and again, Scripture likens the Christian life to a race—and you and I are called to run with perseverance right to the finishing line!
As the apostle Paul neared the end of his life, he had a very clear sense of what that meant.
In his last letter before his death, Paul wrote…

In our fallen, broken, hurting world, no one is immune to suffering and trials. All too often—and perhaps even more so in our latter years—things happen that cause our hearts to cry, “Why Lord?”

At such times, it’s easy for discouragement and depression to get a foothold. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Time and again, Scripture likens the Christian life to a race—and you and I are called to run with perseverance right to the finishing line!

As the apostle Paul neared the end of his life, he had a very clear sense of what that meant.

In his last letter before his death, Paul wrote…

I was a church college pastor 30 years ago. One particular Sunday, as I was about to leave to watch the Super Bowl with a bunch of college kids, I got a phone message from our church phone system and it said, “Hi, my name is John. I am so depressed and lonely that I am thinking about committing suicide. My address is such and such.” Now there was no phone number left and no caller ID. Immediately, I tried to contact another church leader to go with me, but no one was available. So I thought, I just better go check this out.

I was a church college pastor 30 years ago. One particular Sunday, as I was about to leave to watch the Super Bowl with a bunch of college kids, I got a phone message from our church phone system and it said, “Hi, my name is John. I am so depressed and lonely that I am thinking about committing suicide. My address is such and such.” Now there was no phone number left and no caller ID. Immediately, I tried to contact another church leader to go with me, but no one was available. So I thought, I just better go check this out.

George Mueller (1805-1898) was a Christian evangelist who founded a series of orphanages in Bristol, England, providing housing for over 10,000 children. Mueller was known for being a man of faith and prayer. Along with the orphanages, he started the Scriptural Knowledge Institution to educate believers, distribute Bibles, and evangelize the lost. He decided to believe God and depended entirely on God to supply his needs. In today’s dollar, God provided almost $100 million in response to Mueller’s prayers! One thing Mueller knew above all else was to pray about everything!