The goal that appears when you reach it

I like to look back. When I am climbing a mountain, it is an excuse to rest. But I also do it for another reason—to see how far I have climbed.

Cringeworthy!

When a visitor walks into your church, what will they see? What will they hear? How will they feel?

Death is never wonderful

Socrates is surrounded by his disciples on the day of his death, but he discusses immortality with them calmly. Jesus, on the other hand, only a few hours before His death, asks His disciples not to leave Him alone. Socrates drinks the cup of poison quickly and joyfully, without fear or doubt, while Jesus, troubled, asks the Father to take the cup from...

For a clear conscience we must drive away negative thoughts. True or false?

There is a huge volume of literature, in bookstores and online, which contain recommendations for a more enjoyable life, in accordance with the hidden skills of each one of us. One of the great secrets put forward is freeing the mind from all negative thoughts.

The great failure of too high expectations

From the first positive pregnancy test, parents often build up expectations for their baby. And as the little one grows, so do the expectations—emotional, cognitive, moral and academic. While it's only natural that this should be the case, as children need to be set standards, parents' expectations can often turn out to be a double-edged sword.

Consoling faith

I generally don’t like going to funerals, but they come in many different forms and feels. Some seem sadder than others; some feel more hopeful. But often there’s an unexpected bittersweetness. We are all there because of something good—the life, love and relationship that we are there to remember and honour—that has come to a tragic end, always too soon.

Busting four porn myths

It’s been said that porn and the internet rose together. As technology develops, the pornography industry finds new and even more instant ways to entangle consumers. I saw a video on social media where a young woman was talking about her subscription account (where people subscribe to access exclusive content of her) making $350k a month.

Facing rejection: a hard-fought battle

It has been more than ten years since my first job interview ended with the classic: You did a great job, but we have chosen someone else. Since this memorable moment, other closed doors have followed: employers rejecting my application, people not sharing my interests, groups giving me the feeling of not being accepted.

25 million reasons

The Caribbean has long been considered paradise by many tourists. For many of those living there, however, the images of lofty palm trees, white sandy beaches and crystal-clear waters mask an underbelly of drug running, gang-related violence and prostitution. Human trafficking is an issue many nations are struggling to cope with, and the Caribbean island of Trinidad is no different.

Seventh-day Adventists

Seventh-day Adventists consider the issue of religious freedom to be essential to their mission. “Separation of church and state offers the best safeguard for religious liberty and is in harmony with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 22:21: ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s’.”

Good reasons to read the whole Bible

As intimidating as the Bible may sometimes be, especially because of its size and its sometimes difficult passages, many who have read it from cover to cover say that it has changed their lives for the better—the spiritual resources the whole Bible can provide are not found elsewhere.

The secularization of Christmas

Although the holiday of Christmas does not have a biblical origin and did not exist in the days of the early church, most Christians around the world keep it as a reminder of the miracle of Jesus Christ’s birth. However, the religious significance of the holiday is waning in the Western world, as the number of church members decreases and Bible illiteracy increases.

What’s growing on your family tree?

From a distance, it looked like a simple picture of a tree: nothing very artistic—more of a sketch in subtle shades of brown and green. But as I looked closer I noticed something unusual. The tree had been constructed out of words and phrases. Someone had collected snippets of information about their family and their ancestors, and written it down to form the...

How harmful is corporal punishment for children?

In an ideal world, everything would be simple: you, as the father or mother, tell your child, the apple of your eye, to do something and, being perfectly obedient and submissive, they do as they’re told. However, we don’t know if such a world would really be ideal. Nevertheless, for many parents, this resembles a paradise to which they would love to escape...

The culture of blasphemy

According to its creators, "JC" was to be a 30-minute-per-episode animated series about Jesus Christ who wanted to escape the overwhelming shadow of his father and live as an ordinary man in New York. The project was developed by comedian and writer John Michaelson. However, due to the controversial nature of the subject matter, only the pilot was produced and filmed, and it...