Frustration is no stranger to the child of God.  Believers live in a world of broken pieces, and buses which are late, and budgets which will not balance, just the same as the man who is an atheist.  I contend, however, that the child of God should have some resources with which to fight frustration.  Yes, the believer has powers to cope that the atheist does not have.  Like what?

When a psychotherapist talks about guilt, he is usually talking about something which the Bible describes as conscience. He's talking about the emotion which either condemns or exonerates you of your actions.  But when the Bible talks about guilt, using the same term which psychotherapy uses, it is in relationship to your standing before God--not your feelings, which may reflect your culture and your understanding of right or wrong.

Charles Schultz, the creator of the comic strip "Peanuts" had a grasp of human nature such as do few people.  Who can't identify with the series of cartoons where Lucy is trying to console Charlie Brown?  She says, "Remember, Charlie Brown, you learn more from your defeats than you do from your victories."  And Charlie Brown says, "That makes me the smartest man in the world!"

What we need today is more leaders!  Right?  Wrong, says Joe Stowell!  And who is this negative voice?  He served for 18 years as president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, one of our day's leading Christian colleges with more than a century of history.

Ignorance is a wonderful thing!  What you don't know doesn't worry you, though it probably should.  You couldn't be out of money since you still have checks in your checkbook, right? The lump that you have on your neck can’t hurt you as long as you ignore it or can it?  It's not only your bank account or your health which is an issue; it's your spiritual life as well. Strange, is it not, how we prefer to ignore issues rather than confront them.

The writer, C.S. Lewis, points out that you've got to know what a straight line is before you know what a crooked one is.  But the “straight lines” of morality, of what is right and wrong, are fuzzy in the minds of a lot of people. Where do we get our idea of what is right and what is wrong and can something be “right for you, but wrong for me?”

A sign carried by a demonstrating student on a university campus read, "JESUS, YES!  CHRISTIANITY, NO!"  Was the student rejecting the distorted picture of Christianity which is often projected--the image of someone who goes to church yet whose life has been unaffected by the message?  Does this mean that the demonstrator related to Jesus as a revolutionary, as someone who stood against the crowd and certainly against the established government and authority of His day?  Or does that mean He stood for the real, the authentic, the genuine Christ who spoke the truth and gave His life that those who believe in Him could have everlasting life?

How many children grew up with a real distaste for the word “discipline?”  Like 2-year-old James, who, when his father announced that he would have to be disciplined for misbehaving chirped, “Discipline—that’s bad stuff!”

A husband picked up a call from his wife.  “Michael got his first tooth and took his first step!” she excitedly told him.  “That’s so great!” he answered. “No, there’s more,” continued the wife. "He also had his first fall and cut his lip, and when he did, he said his first bad word!"

Two brothers are scuffling in a disagreement.  Down on the floor they tumble, fists flailing.  Soon enough, the older brother manages to end up on top of the younger brother, who wails, “You’re not the boss of me!”    And, it’s true.  Mom or Dad is the real boss.  Hopefully we have long ago abandoned tussles with our siblings, but how often do we wrestle over the right of God to rule in our lives?