This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. (1 John 3:11-12)

Cain's ego was threatened by Abel's righteousness. He was jealous of his brother and this in turn filled his heart with hatred and insecurity. ...

It is impossible, even for the most physically attractive women, to achieve physical perfection. Therefore, for those of us obsessively believing that weight-loss will be a cure-all, we have unknowingly placed a standard of Photoshop perfection upon ourselves that can never be obtained. We are so focused on our physical flaws that we can't see any of our attributes.

The truth is, even if we do manage to strip away some or all of the extra weight we carry, all these other listed physical "flaws" are still going to remain. ...

Whether you have a clear complexion or not, we all know that a single zit has the power to ruin an entire day. One big zit on your forehead, nose or chin and you're miserable. You try to hide it with coverup and powder, and even if this works to some degree, you still check your reflection every hour to make sure the makeup hasn't worn off. And if the zit is big enough, makeup will only hide the redness, not the size.

In short, there's nothing much that can be done for a big zit except to wait it out. Nevertheless, it's tough to resist the urge to envy women who seem to have a naturally porcelain skin. (Uh, remember air-brushing, foundation, concealer, and bronzer? Most women don't have perfect complexions.) ...

Two of the most detrimental things a Christian can do is either, 1) develop a why-bother attitude about prayer, thinking God will just do whatever He wants anyway, or 2) treat God as some kind of Genie in a bottle to be approached only when we want something from Him.

Now it is true that for whatever the exact reason may be, (His ways are not our ways!) God has decided from before the creation of the world that the course history was going to take was going to be a direct result of our prayers. That's the truth of the matter. God considers each and every request we make and decides yes or no based on our ultimate good and the ultimate good of others. There's an old quote that goes, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." So, we must never cease to pray, for if we do, God will cease to work in our lives.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be in such a precarious position of floating adrift. But when we pray, we must do so with reverence, examining our hearts for selfish motives and unrepentant sin. James 4:2b-3 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." ...

"When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 'Lord, have mercy on my son,' he said. 'He has seizures and is suffering greatly ... I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him.' ... Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

"Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, 'Why couldn’t we drive it out?' He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.' ” (Matthew 17:14-16, 18-21)

Why is it that the disciples couldn't cast out this demon when Jesus had so clearly given them the power to heal every sickness and to exorcize demons (see Matthew 10:1,8)?

I've been reading "The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis. A great book! He talks about how we sometimes object to God's discipline, wondering why He continually pokes and prods at us, trying to improve us instead of just letting us alone. If He loves us just as we are now, why does He insist that we change?

It's easier to understand this when you think of a puppy: The puppy comes into the family with lots of unpleasant aspects which when you think about it, are simply "natural." The puppy will do his business on the floor, he won't keep his fur clean (he smells) and he'll bite and bark inappropriately. It's his animal nature, after all. He can't help it. ...

There are three main requirements for buying everything in bulk:

1) A car or taxi

2) Space in your house to store large packages of dry and canned goods, such as a pantry. (No room for a pantry? Be creative - use the space under your bed or behind the couch, for example.)

3) Shop at a wholesale grocery store and a bulk foods-type store, such as Bulk Barn. No Frills, for example, has great prices, but they don’t offer much by way of bulk baking items.

Here's how it's done:

Cooking the majority of your foods from scratch... Yes, that means using a recipe. ;) But does this mean you'll have to spend twice as much time in the kitchen? Consider this: by cooking from scratch and buying your staples in bulk: instead of having to make a trip to the grocery store once or twice a week, you'll be able to reduce your shopping to as little as two trips a month.

Not only will you be saving money on gas, you'll also be avoiding untold numbers of "impulse purchases." So, yes, you’ll inevitably spend more time in the kitchen, but you’ll also spend less time wandering the grocery store aisles week after week. ...

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

Though I've written extensively on some of the specific aspects of self-esteem in other blog topics, I've decided to compile those writings into one single blog that focuses on the central structures of self-esteem; what the Bible teaches about identity; and how we ought to treat others. ...

I know it sounds silly, but it's true: My cat taught me the true meaning of grace. He also taught me how to love unconditionally, and how to forgive seventy-times seven.

Here's what happened....

In an attempt to refute my article "Cutting Through Prochoice Rhetoric ," a young woman nicknamed "Aizenald" from Alabama, has written an article called "Abortion and Right-to-Life." I would like to comment on some of her arguments here.