Contrary Winds
On January 13, 1997, Steve Fossett began an adventure with high expectations of becoming the first person to circle the globe in a hot-air balloon. After three days, he had already crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was flying at 24,500 feet eastward over Africa. However, as he was approaching the country of Libya, he faced
Be Careful What You Ask For
In recent months, I’ve been on trips to North Carolina (twice), Florida, Tennessee (twice), Oklahoma, and a few other places that I can’t recall at the moment. Most of these trips have been by car. In April, I put enough miles on my Acura to have to change the oil after only 16 days. Add
P is for Plagiarism (Part 1): Warren Wiersbe
Sunday after Sunday, the minister preached his way through a book of sermons that he was certain nobody in his congregation had ever seen. However, one man in the church owned a copy of the book and had read it. As the man left church one Sunday, he said to the minister, “That was a
The Tyranny of Things
Are you trapped in the tyranny of things? A wealthy man was moving into a new house, and his next-door neighbor happened to be a Quaker. The Quakers, as you know, believe in simplicity and plainness of life. The Quaker neighbor watched as the movers carted in numerous pieces of furniture, a great deal of
The Virtue of Worldliness
When I was young, “worldliness” was a vice. Let me explain. As a teen, my church never tried to prove worldly things were wrong with a specific Bible verse which disallowed my participation—they would just say “it’s worldly” as in “we abstain from worldly amusements.” Worldly amusements meant the kind of entertainment that “the world”
The Secret of Encouragement
All of us have our crisis days when everything seems to fall apart, days when it looks as if we have come to the end of the road and that God has turned against us. In 1 Samuel 30 we see David experiencing such a crisis. He had just returned from battle to discover that
The Ministry of Thorns
Anyone who knows me is well aware of my fondness for eagles. An eagle displays such majestic grace while in flight, but is a picture of complete confidence while simply sitting and staring. Several years ago, a pastor with whom I was conducting a revival took me to a place where I could watch live
How’s Your Reading Plan?
Every day I get an A. W. Tozer devotional online. Recently, the devotional contained thoughts by Tozer on reading. Check it out. “A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel (Proverbs 1:5). When a very young minister, I asked the famous holiness preacher, Joseph H. Smith,
The Blessing of Not Knowing It All
The wiser a man becomes, the more ignorant he knows himself to be. All of us come to a certain point in life–usually when we are younger–when we feel that all wisdom is ours and there is just nothing more to learn. Then we turn a corner and discover that our store of knowledge is
Volume 08, Issue 05
My Trophy from AlaskaMichael Catt In January I had the privilege of speaking to about 250 pastors and their wives in Alaska. Terri and I made our first trip to the state and were blown away by the cold, the beauty and the people. It was a trip we will always cherish. If you would
A Life that Pleases the Lord
It was the bottom of the seventh inning, and the bases were loaded with two outs. My son’s little league team was winning by three runs. All they needed was one more out and the game was over. The batter promptly swats the ball into centerfield in the direction of my son. If he comes
Change Is Going to Come
This is a year of change. There will be a new President and perhaps a new party in the White House beginning in 2009. In the next few months we will elect a new leader of the free world. Whether he or she is able to do the job is yet to be seen. There