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Written by Luis Palau
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Tuesday, 04 April 2006 17:00 |
Do you believe in angels?
I believe I have a guardian angel--several, perhaps. I also believe angels have visited this planet, repeatedly.
Two millennia ago, the largest known visitation of angels to earth announced the very first Christmas.
That we are a visited planet is what Christmas is all about. History is divided before and after this singularly profound event-the birth of Jesus Christ.
Who is Jesus? A heavenly messenger? In a sense, yes. Yet He's much, much more.
How radical is the idea behind Christmas? The religious leaders at that time scoffed at the shepherds' report of the angelic announcement of Jesus' birth. They no longer believed in angels. They certainly couldn't imagine God Almighty-creator and governor of the vast universe-humbling Himself to visit planet earth.
Yet the Scriptures clearly foretold this. Among other things, the prophet Isaiah foretold that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would be born of a virgin and called "Immanuel" (literally, "God with us," Isaiah 7:14) and "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6b).
Furthermore, an angel of the Lord told Joseph, the Messiah's adoptive father: "`Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins'" (Matthew 1:20b-21).
So profound was the incarnation of Jesus Christ that . . . |
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Last Updated ( Monday, 03 April 2006 18:50 )
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Written by Luis Palau
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Thursday, 16 March 2006 08:22 |
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I love sports. One of the mementos I've saved from my childhood is a faded, slightly out of focus black and white photo of me on my first soccer team. As a boy, I dreamed of winning the championship game with a spectacular last-second goal, and of becoming an instant hero to my teammates and everyone else watching. In sports-crazy America, so many of our heroes are athletes. We identify with successful athletes because we, too, want to be winners. I will never be a gold-medal athlete, except in my imagination. When I watch an Olympic contest or professional game on TV, like everyone else I sometimes get mad and vent my feelings after a particularly lousy play. My wife says, "Why are you shouting? You certainly couldn't do as well!" But in my mind I can play with the best of them. I'm a winner. Doesn't everybody want to be winner? The only other options are mediocrity or failure. In sports, however, not everybody can be a winner. Only one person or team in each competition will go home with the gold medal this summer. Many others will feel like national failures, constantly reminded by sports writers and fans how they let down their country. I'm reminded of figure skater Tonya Harding and runner Ben Johnson whose win at all costs behavior brought them . . . |
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The Problem of Evil and Suffering |
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Written by Luis Palau
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Tuesday, 07 February 2006 18:11 |
When asked what questions they would like to ask God if given the opportunity, forty-four percent of Americans said they want to know, "Why is there evil or suffering in the world?"
John Hick noted, "To many, the most powerful positive objection to belief in God is the fact of evil." Peter Kreeft agrees, saying, "The strongest argument for atheism has always been the problem of evil." That?s been the case the past twenty-five hundred years, since the days of Buddha?s "enlightenment."
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (342?-270 B.C.) stated the problem in four parts: "God either wishes to take away evil, and is unable, or He is able, and unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able. If He is willing and is unable, He is feeble, which is not in accordance with the character of God; if He is able and unwilling, He is envious, which is equally at variance with God; if He is neither willing nor able, He is both envious and feeble, and therefore not God; if He is both willing and able, which alone is suitable to God, from what source then are evils? or why does He not remove them?"
What Epicurus failed to consider is that, in light of his eternal purposes, God may choose to allow evil for a time. It wasn?t his idea, it?s certainly not . . . |
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Written by Luis Palau
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Wednesday, 11 January 2006 23:21 |
West Berlin, December, 1966. Cold and unknown, I strolled through the wintery city, bundled in my overcoat, determined to reach the border.
Standing at the edge of West Berlin, I shuddered, pondering what oppressed millions were enduring a short distance away. On the Berlin Wall I read, painted in large letters: "How long will this go on?"
My heart tightened at the thought of people living in fear, with no peace at Christmas. Yet I also knew no human wall could restrict God?s peace if only people let Him past the walls of their hearts.
Fast Forward
September 1989. By official invitation, I spoke to huge crowds in the communist cities of Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Riga, and Kishinev, a few weeks before the dramatic collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
Restrictions on public Christian ministry had been lifted. I found an incredible situation. I?ve traveled all over the world, but have rarely seen a place as hungry and desperate to hear the message of peace found in God?s good news.
Just before my whirlwind USSR tour ended, a Baptist pastor brought an acquaintance to one of our . . . |
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