A man once wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper. He said, “I have been going to church for 30 years. During that time, I have probably heard about 3,000 sermons. But honestly, I can hardly remember any of them. So I wonder: are priests wasting their time preaching, and are we wasting our time listening?” That letter started a great discussion. People wrote back and forth. Some agreed with him. Others defended the value of preaching. Then one reader sent a simple respon

Years ago, a ship was caught in a violent storm. Everyone on board was filled with fear. The captain had his young son with him on the ship. In the middle of all the panic, someone noticed how calm the boy was. While the others were frightened, he sat quietly playing with his wooden toy. So the man went over to him and asked, “Son, how can you be so calm in this storm? Aren’t you afraid of what might happen?” The boy looked at him with the calm confidence only a child can hav

Fear and faith have something in common: they both ask us to believe in something we cannot yet see. The difference is which one we choose to trust. Fear believes in the worst that could happen. Faith believes in the best that God can make happen. In the Scriptures, when Moses sent twelve men to scout the Promised Land, ten came back with fear. They saw giants and said, “We felt like grasshoppers in our own eyes” (Numbers 13:33). That is what fear does. It magnifies the probl