When I saw the massive volume of Leo Tolstoy rsquo s War and Peace on my friend rsquo s bookshelf I confessed ldquo I rsquo ve never actually made it all the way through that rdquo ldquo Well rdquo Marty chuckled ldquo When I retired from teaching I got it as a gift from a friend who told me lsquo Now you rsquo ll finally have time to read it rsquo rdquo The first eight verses of Ecclesiastes state a familiar natural rhythm of the activities of life with some arbitrary choices No matter what stage of life we find [... more]

In a young Russian artillery officer viewed the battlefield carnage occurring far below his cannon rsquo s hilltop placement ldquo It rsquo s a funny sort of pleasure rdquo Leo Tolstoy wrote ldquo to see people killing each other And yet every morning and every evening I would spend hours at a time watching rdquo Tolstoy rsquo s outlook soon changed After seeing firsthand the devastation and suffering in the city of Sevastopol he wrote ldquo You understand all at once and quite differently from what you have before the significance of those sounds of shots which you heard in [... more]

In the novella Family Happiness by Leo Tolstoy main characters Sergey and Masha meet when Masha is young and impressionable Sergey is an older well-traveled businessman who understands the world beyond the rural setting where Masha lives Over time the two fall in love and marry They settle in the countryside but Masha becomes bored with her surroundings Sergey who adores her arranges a trip to St Petersburg There Masha rsquo s beauty and charm bring her instant popularity Just as the couple is about to return home a prince arrives in town wanting to meet her Sergey knows he [... more]

Pastor Greg Laurie tackles a perennially debated issue How should Christians approach the topic of self-defense How do we turn the other cheek and how should we think about law-enforcement Teaching from Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount Pastor Greg gives us a balanced view of all these topics There is a place for self-defense You have your rights as an American citizen God has the military and the police force With that in mind what did Jesus mean when He said But whoever slaps you on your right cheek turn the other to him also And whoever compels [... more]

You are alive You will die Those two absolutes are as basic as it gets But since life is a gift from the Creator what right does anyone ever have in taking it from another One of the commandments on God's Top Ten list is quot Thou shalt not kill quot Is there ever a time to kill Does the justice system of a land or an army ever have the right to kill How can we as responsible Christians ever come to a balance regarding this very difficult issue This teaching is from the series God's Top Ten Links [... more]

The chicks have flown the nest Now what Author Dave Harvey believes that when young adults leave home it reveals what a couple has built throughout their marriage Of course there will be some adjustments as responsibilities shift and couples rediscover each other A husband and wife may even realize that they're living as strangers and their spiritual walk is on life support Harvey reminds couples to get help if needed and stir up the fires that once were flames It's never too late to build a marriage that's great Show Notes and Resources Find resources from this podcast at [... more]

Support the show [... more]