The Tulip Driven Life

*In conjunction with the CSFF blog tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.* You can purchase Eye of The Sword here . Blog Tour Participants: <a href=" http://kinynchronicles.blogspot.com/ "> Julie Bihn</a> <a href=" http://tulipdrivenlife.blogspot.com/ "> Thomas Fletcher Booher</a> <a href=" http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/ "> Keanan Brand</a> <a href=" http://rbclibrary.wordpress.com/ "> Beckie Burnham</a> <a href=" http://castlereads.blogspot.com/ "> Jackie Castle</a> <a href=" http://kittycrochettwo.blogspot.com/ "> Brenda Castro</a> <a href=" http://jeffchapmanwriter.blogspot.com/ "> Jeff Chapman</a> <a href=" http://www.theiemommy.com/ "> Christine</a> <a href=" http://tweezlereads.blogspot.com/ "> Theresa Dunlap</a> <a href=" http://in--...

Picture taken from this address There is only one question that you must settle, Christian, if you are to have unconquerable comfort in your life. This comfort depends not on your financial status nor the status of your other affairs and duties in life. It does not even depend upon your health and physical well-being. This comfort never ebbs, it never runs empty or dries up, but is a constant, steady stream that will never cease to flow to you when you most need it.  The comfort that I am speaking of is the comfort found in the sovereignty of God. Your problem is, if you are anything like me, you have been told much of your life not to believe in the absolute sovereignty of God because it would be most unsettling to have a God who ordains and predestines everything, even sin and sickness and all those who wind up in hell. You have been told this because the one who told you likely believed that God is incapable of predestining all things in such a way t...

I am against abortion. It is murder. Let's be clear on that. I am all for making a big stink about this terrible evil, this ignored holocaust. Christians, too, are having abortions, and that is nearly unthinkable. For unbelievers to kill their children and call it a good deal for both the mother and the child shouldn't be shocking but when Christian mothers are having abortions to cover up their sins, I think there is a much, much deeper problem. The problem isn't simply pointing out that abortion is murder. It has come to the point that we must remind Christians, let alone the world, why murder is a problem.  So what do I mean? Am I actually saying that Christians do not think murder to be sin? Not exactly. Most Christians see killing another human being as wrong. The problem, I believe, is the reasoning that many Christians have for why killing another human being is wrong. It would seem many Christians are a bit pragmatic. "It is wrong to kill because we ar...

This is a fictional piece that I wrote up. Hopefully it demonstrates the comfort we can have if our parents are believers. Next time I want to write up a piece on a more challenging issue- finding comfort in the death of a parent who isn't a believer. But for now, this. I took one last look at the old man. His beleaguered body lie flat on his bed, propped up slightly by the pillow he always used. He stared vacantly at whatever was in his line of sight from the angle his head was positioned. The white sheet covering his body up to his chest gave the impression he was already dead. But dead he was not- the slight heaving of his belly made the sheet rise and drop with his shallow breaths.                 I stood there, eyes red and heavy, at this point due to exhaustion and not tears. I had long accepted the fact he was dying; now I just wished he would hurry up and go. Everything that needed to be said...

I have experienced disappointment and letdown time and time again. To have a dream crushed, a promise broken, or trust violated leaves one in pieces, wary and without confidence. And the more this happens, the harder it is to hope in anything good again, to hope that our plans will actually come to fruition. This is often how it has been for me. And in this sin-shattered world I know this is how, to one degree or another, it is for everyone. I've often thought about how living in the 21st century in the most prosperous nation ever has spoiled me. No doubt it has, but I also think people living 100 years from now, or 1,000 years from now, who will be far better off than I am, will still experience disappointment and letdown, will still experience that unnerving feeling in the pit of their stomach that resonates throughout their bodies whenever they think about the next great longing that is finally visible just over the horizon, approaching at long last, yet nonetheless looms ...

A little perspective never hurt anyone. That's not true, but having no perspective except your own does nothing but hurt. What is perspective? It is a mental view or outlook, and I am convinced the more we can get outside of ourselves and see the world around us, the less our cultural bias will taint everything we think and feel and do. By seeing the world around us I mean attempting, as best we can, to understand other cultures, at the very least the ones that are pouring into the Great Melting Pot known as the United States. Certainly I refer to different ethnicities and subcultures even within each ethnicity, but beyond that, I also refer to those who are the "rich" of this nation, the "dirt poor," and everyone in between. The way to do this is simply by interacting with people from various ethnicities and backgrounds, cultures and climates. Or, read a book if you prefer. The important thing, however, is to grasp the underlying philosophy of those aroun...