It wasn’t until my mid-40’s that I awoke to a deeper understanding of full surrender in the area of one’s vocation. ♦ Many years ago a pastor at our church speaking to a group of men on the topic of… Read More ›
religion
Fathers Love and Wound Best
Sometimes significant past damage has been done to otherwise full functioning individuals who cannot even themselves recognize the depth and impact of their wounded heart. ♦ If there is a recurring theme in Christianity it’s that “we are all sinners.” Yes,… Read More ›
Here Comes the Flood
We should all be wary of cultural or secular attempts at Biblical storytelling. However, if Hollywood makes us look deeper into facts, then this is a good thing. ♦ There’s an upcoming Hollywood movie hitting the big screen in March 2014. The… Read More ›
Tithing and God’s Grace
This matter can be a turnoff, guilt trip, or legalistic compulsion. Consider the pressures and mixed messages on this highly personal and controversial topic. ♦ The topic of tithing makes many people uncomfortable. From the pulpit to the pew it’s a subject… Read More ›
Yesterday, Today, and the New Year
A year winds down and another starts immediately. What did we learn yesterday that helps us today and prepares, or even leads us, to tomorrow? ♦ We’re still in the bubble or even afterglow of the Christmas season. We have… Read More ›
Merry Christmas – Believe It or Not
Whether people honor the birth of the world’s savior or celebrate a secular culture’s happy holiday season, it’s Christmas nonetheless and a time of reckoning. ♦ In a casual conversation she initiated about religions, I once asked a young Jewish coworker what she… Read More ›
Christian Holiday Drift
The birth of Jesus was fraught with uncertainty, danger, fear and hardship. It worked out well in the end. What about our own lives? ♦ When you think about it, most people associated with the very first Christmas had very… Read More ›
A Unified Old and New Testament?
How often we are asked or consider our own doubts about the unity of the Bible? Isn’t the tone and coherence of the Old Testament so very different from the New Testament? ♦ Have you ever doubted the unity of… Read More ›
Big Church, Little Church
Throughout history, churches and denominations have perpetuated a small view of the Body of Christ. ♦ It’s no wonder that many skeptics look at Christianity and point to the arguments and divisions within its own entity as a reason for questioning the… Read More ›
Solomon, Purpose and Meaning
To discover our true purpose in life we must reach beyond our own thinking of purpose and reach for the supernatural. ♦ In his best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren establishes that one’s life on this planet is… Read More ›
A Brilliant Disguise?
And he said, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.’ We’ve been covering up ever since. ♦ Adam falls like a rock. He not only disobeys a direct order (eat freely… Read More ›
The Sower and the Vine
What we do and how we are “deployed” in this world is really a function of our response to the Word of God. ♦ Deployment. Several years ago this word was puzzling to me as I was hearing this term used… Read More ›