Children across America are filing into hallways and classrooms this week as another school year begins. Summer has faded, vacations are over, lunches are packed, supplies are stocked, and buses are running. Old friendships reunite while new students try to find their way. Teachers are anxious to begin their lessons while children dread the assigned homework that awaits. It is always an anxious, excitable, refreshing time of year. Before long, things settle down, and normalcy settles in. Such is the cycle of education.

As teachers, students, and parents prepare themselves for another quarter, be certain, there are other forces that …

For nearly 25 years of ministry, I have tried to surround myself with spiritually minded, Bible-believing, pastoral-hearted shepherds who love the Lord and tend to the flock of God. Throughout those years I have sought their counsel, gleaned from their wisdom, and learned from their experiences. The practical theology one can learn at a syrupy Waffle House table while Sweet Home Alabama is playing in the background is a profound reality. During those unassuming moments, God sharpens iron, He uses the wisdom of one pastor to mold and shape the convictions of another.

It would be impossible to articulate or …

It was so small, so miniscule, so seemingly insignificant that at first glance no one would not have noticed the variation. It didn’t take long, however, until the laborers discovered that the insidious plant growing among the budding wheat wasn’t really wheat at all. Known as the “bearded darnel,” the tare was an imposter, a fake, a poisonous grass that could potentially kill off any livestock that came into grazing distance. This satanic seed was not only sown with the intention to destroy the crops of the master but to simultaneously distract those servants who were employed in the labor …

He was the last one picked at recess. The two captains argued back and forth about whose team the new kid would be on until one reluctantly gave in and said, “Fine, I guess we are stuck with the newbie.” Timmy left school that day feeling like he did not have a friend in the world. Third graders can be cruel at times.

She had worked long hours over the past few weeks getting things ready for the quarterly staff meeting. The room was full of corporate executives and senior managers from out of state. At the end of her …

In his classic work, The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan tells of Christian’s struggle as he attempts to climb up “The Hill Difficulty.” Facing the arduous task of ascension, the weary traveler drinks from the nearby spring to refresh his soul. He resolutely declares:

“The hill, though high, I covet to ascend,
The difficulty will not me offend;
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up heart, let’s neither faint nor fear;”

For Christian (and any Christian for that matter), the goal of prayer is to go higher with God. It is to ascend the mountain and …