Life's Inanities and Ironies

  The Shepherd does not always lift you out of the dark. He walks it with you. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” — Psalm 23:4 Psalm 23 is gentle and unsentimental. There is a valley. There is shadow. There is death. The psalm does not promise a detour. It promises company, a rod, a staff, a table, and a house at the end. Close to the brokenhearted. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). If you want to find God, look toward the people who can barely stand. A bandage is not a resurrection. It is mercy in the meantime. The God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3–4: the Father comforts us in affliction, not only after it, so that the comforted become comforters. Your present darkness may one day be part of someone else’s survival. That is not a reason to be grateful for the loss. It is a reason not to...

 Dear fellow believers in the unchanging truth of Scripture, In a world gripped by chaos—moral decay, economic uncertainty, and the relentless assaults of the enemy—where do we turn for true rest? Not to the fleeting comforts of this age, but to the eternal Word of God. Today, I invite you to explore the profound depths of Matthew 6:9 , the opening of the Lord's Prayer , where Jesus teaches us: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name " (KJV). This isn't just a formula for prayer; it's an invitation to rest. Not the shallow rest peddled by self-help gurus or New Age philosophies , but a deep, soul-satisfying rest in the sovereignty of our Heavenly Father . As fundamentalists committed to the literal, inerrant Bible , let us unpack this truth and see how prayer becomes our anchor in stormy seas. The Foundation: Addressing God as Father At the heart of Jesus' model prayer is the intimate address: "Our Fa...