Sin and our ultimate demise are the two great outcomes of the Fall in Genesis, and they don’t seem very kind or fair until we start to examine them both a little closer.

Scripture is filled with people who fail, sin against God and lose what they love, but it also offers the opportunity of redemption to those who are burdened by their past. 

Most film adaptations of books are praised for their faithfulness to the source material, especially with an author as famous and revered as Shakespeare.

Too often, we fall on one side or the other when discussing history. Either the past was a semi-utopia compared to present day, or it was a nightmare that we’re finally escaping.

God’s presence means that we should be growing spiritual fruit, but why is this so important and how do we maximize our results?

The Bible says that we are to have faith in God’s power to redeem and transform others, but what do we make of this in the face of a world that seems unforgiving and painful? 

When we feel like we have received a ‘calling’ from God, what do we do if it seems impossible and all the doors are still closed?

How honest are we allowed to get in our prayers? Is it okay to sometimes get frustrated or even — Dare we say it? — angry with God? 

Although they obviously never met, Sigmund Freud, agnostic and slightly demented psychologist, agreed on one point with the eminent theologian John Wesley: people are terrible.

Freud made an admirable, life-long habit of responding personally in letters to anyone who wrote him, even if they were not a fan. Pastor Oskar Pfister was a friend of Freud’s, but he also qualified as a critic. While he agreed with some of Freud’s psychoanalytic philosophies, others disturbed him.

As the old hymn says, God moves in mysterious ways, but how often are we willing to trust that fact, or do we attempt to unveil the Lord enigmatic designs?

God offers us a way to discover joy in the ashes of our lives, but it runs so counter to how we’ve been told to find happiness by the world that it almost doesn’t make sense.