Ukrainian pastor Yan Gutarov woke up around 3 a.m. on Feb. 24. He couldn't go back to sleep, so he began to pray.At 4:30 a.m., he heard an explosion and he wondered if there had been a gas leak in his neighborhood in the city of Odessa. But another explosion followed,...

Early in the morning on Feb. 24, President Vladimir Putin of Russia began what he called a "peacekeeping mission" in Ukraine. It was, in fact, a hostile and unlawful act of war that has been condemned by the world community. As soon as Russian bombs began falling on...

By the time LaToya Merrill was 15, she had her first baby. She started selling drugs and dating drug dealers so she could get money for diapers for her son.Scared and desperate, LaToya sought help from a school counselor. But the counselor made things worse when she...

Kids around the nation are reminded every February of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Jesse Owens, Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Douglas and so many other Black men and women who excelled as politicians, civil rights leaders, judges,...

I've tried my best to keep a good attitude during this pandemic season, but God knows I've complained too much—about masks, vaccine mandates, changing health policies, closed schools, online church services and travel restrictions. But what I've hated most are...

In case you haven't noticed, sweeping cultural changes are happening in the midst of this global pandemic. Recent polls have shown that teenagers and young adults are abandoning faith.One recent poll showed that about three-quarters of teens in the United States...

My mother died last week at age 93 after almost three years of dementia. My father died four years ago this week. And last year I lost three close friends. You'd think by now I'd be an expert in how to grieve a loss but I've felt quite helpless when it comes to how to...

I'm not a cold-weather guy so I didn't enjoy the snow we got this past Sunday in Georgia. Everyone here looks forward to the one-in-a-decade snowfall, but I dread it. I don't like ice on the roads, power outages, flight cancellations or the kind of highway pile-ups...

At the beginning of every year, I set aside several days to tune out distractions and seek the Lord about the coming year. Usually God gives me a word, a phrase or a specific Scripture that provides hope and guidance.This year, the Lord dropped 2 Chronicles 20 in my...

How many copies of the Bible do you own? I have a shelf in my home office with different translations that I use for personal study. I'll admit it's easier to access these versions online, using the Blue Letter Bible or the YouVersion app, but I still prefer to hold a...

I recently shared a meal with a pastor who loves his congregation and works tirelessly to serve his community. But this man was in a spiritual battle. A small group of people in his church were dissatisfied with this pastor's leadership, so they were busy plotting...

My 93-year-old mother, Jean, doesn't talk anymore. Her dementia was already severe before the pandemic started. These days, I'm blessed if I can get her to smile when I visit her nursing home or when I bring her to my house for a meal. Her blank stares are a painful...

I had very little to do in the delivery room when my four girls were born. My wife was the hero. She sweated, strained, pushed and gasped for hours. I stroked her arm a few times — and ate some doughnuts.There was a normal amount of blood but no serious...

So many of my pastor friends have trudged through 2021 as if they were slogging through mud. This hasn't been an easy year. If we opened the church for meetings, we were accused of being uncaring. If we asked people to wear masks at church, we were criticized. If we...

A few months ago, I preached at a church in Michigan called New Life Christian Fellowship. At the conclusion of the service, while I was praying for the congregation, the Lord showed me that someone was struggling with a strong addiction. I shared this with the people...

The year 2021 was a painful year for me personally because I lost three good friends. Robert died of lymphoma in February; Fernando died last week after a heart attack he suffered while on an international flight; and James died suddenly last weekend of heart failure....

Americans sheltered in place and worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic but trend watchers say we are on the cusp of a huge moving boom over the next few years. Are we just restless after so many months in quarantine? There are actually many factors driving...

I've been blessed to know many wise and courageous ministry leaders over the years. Some have been examples from a distance and others have been mentors up close. But I have also known many leaders whose churches or organizations failed because they didn't adopt the...