Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Christian comedian Chonda Pierce truly understands both the cheerful heart and the crushed spirit. She is one of the recording industry's best-selling female comedians. But she became clinically depressed after the death of her mother, along with the estrangement of her daughter and the alcoholism and death of her husband,all within three years.
Best-selling Christian novelist Karen Kingsbury considers herself to be an evangelist who happens to write stories. Some of her readers call it "life-changing fiction." In fact, she's following in the footsteps of our Savior. When Jesus needed to plant a seed in our hearts, He told a story, which Scripture refers to as a parable. Not only are Karen's stories capable of making us laugh or cry, but they also often bring conviction. You may finally feel the need to apologize, to make that overdue phone call, to create peace in a relationship.
If Jesus lived in your house, how would He bring your neighbors into the Kingdom of God? That's a question posed by Lee Strobel, atheist-turned-Christian author of the best-selling The Case for Christ. First, Strobel assures that Jesus wouldn't only share His faith, He would show His faith. Acts of service can help soften our neighbors' hearts to the gospel. Secondly, there would be an alignment between Christ's beliefs and His behavior. Likewise, your creed and your character must be consistent so that your neighbors only see integrity.
Lee Strobel, author of the best-selling The Case for Christ, describes several key considerations to keep in mind when sharing the gospel. Before Jesus spoke to His neighbors about their Heavenly Father, He would first lift them up in prayer. Therefore, prayer should be at the foundation of our efforts. Jesus was also always available for skeptics to ask tough questions about the faith. We should be equally open and welcoming to those who doubt.
When pediatrician Dr. Jerry Kartzinel puts autistic children on a dairy and gluten-free diet, 75% of them respond dramatically,like a fog has lifted! He analogizes that these kids are like computers with a malfunctioning hard drive. Only after the "hard drive" has been repaired can "software" like speech and other therapies that are introduced show dramatic results.
Mark and Jenny were concerned when their first-born child wouldn't make eye contact, walked on his tiptoes, and didn't talk. At the age of three, he was diagnosed with autism, which sent Mark into a deep depression.
If you were asked to identify yourself in one word, what would it be? Parent? Spouse? American? If you've accepted Christ as your Savior, then that one word should be "Christian." The late E.V. Hill, then-pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, preached a powerful sermon at a 1992 Promise Keepers event in Boulder, Colorado. In it, he reminds us of the truth of 1 Peter 2:9 which says, "We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession." In other words, our identity is in Jesus Christ.
A key component of a healthy marriage is the ability to humbly apologize. Unfortunately, few of us are very good at that. Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The Five Languages of Apology, asked thousands of people, "When someone is apologizing to you, what do you want to hear them say or do?" Top answers included: express regret, accept responsibility, make restitution, genuinely repent, and request forgiveness. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance."
Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the best-selling book, The Five Love Languages, talks about the importance of words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, physical touch and gift-giving. He says that your spouse will feel truly loved when you emphasize his or her primary love language, and that parents need to determine their child's love language, as well.
Jesus was the ultimate man's man, a rugged carpenter with calloused hands who drove the money changers out of the Temple with a whip! Yet, He also empowered women, which would have been seen by the men in His day as radical and countercultural. Dr. Tim Clinton and Max Davis, co-authors of Take It Back: Reclaiming Biblical Masculinity, talk about men in the Bible and also recount the final words of King David on his deathbed to his son, Solomon, "Be strong, act like a man, and obey God." While the "cancel culture" may have Christian men on the ropes, history would suggest that they need to stand and fight for God and their families.
