It’s a safe bet to assume that you have heard a good share of bad news in your life. The reality is that what we do with that news determines whether it’s going to define our lives or not. I had a brother who played high school athletics and did extremely well. He was like a hero in my school. Still,...
Question: Lately, I’ve been struggling to keep unity on my staff. How should I handle this? Unity is one of the most difficult things to develop and protect, and it becomes especially tough in a church environment. In the past as a leader, one of my greatest regrets was sacrificing unity because of my love for people. Now, I understand more...
Question: Lately, I’ve been feeling like it would be better if I left my church in someone else’s hands. I feel called, but we haven’t grown in a long time, and I think maybe someone else could do a better job. What do you think I should do? Well, the first part is easy for me to answer. If you know...
Growing in spiritual knowledge can be a great thing. But it’s not so great when our obedience to God doesn’t grow with it. When that happens, we get to the point that we have all kinds of wrong thoughts, attitudes and habits that need killed off in order to let what God really has for us grow. Colossians 3:5,9-10 says, “...
One day I got a call that my youngest son Geoffrey was up to some mischief. Apparently, he had climbed to the top of our local McDonald’s and was sitting high atop the golden arches. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to respond with, “Oh, that’s not my son. I think you have the wrong number!” Unfortunately, he resembles...
Think back to when you were a child. Think about some of the dreams you had. Think back to some of the games you played. More often than not, they all centered around one thing— imagination. As children, we’re pretty good at imagining. But as we grow older, daily routine and reality make it much more difficult. I think God is asking...
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a well-loved, well-respected figure in Christian history. When I stare at a nativity scene, she and baby Jesus are often the first figures that capture my attention. But lately as I stare, I’ve caught my eyes drifting to the side a little bit, as I feel that same sense of gratefulness for Joseph. Joseph was...
If you know me, you know I love nativity sets. Our house is full of them. That’s probably because years ago, I mentioned this to my church, and we got an explosion of sets for Christmas! One of the things I love most about the nativity is its history. It originated in 1224, when St. Francis of Assisi prepared the first...
Years ago, when my kids were young, my wife and I had a date night to remember… and not in the best way. We were on our way to our favorite restaurant, excited for a night to ourselves, when all of a sudden a terrible stench filled the suburban. Now, at this point, we had four children ages 3 to 10,...
We live in a day where celebrity is celebrated. If you’re rich, beautiful, and powerful, it seems you’ve pretty much got life by the tail. Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that great achievement should not be celebrated. But I do believe that our focus on what is ‘great’ has gotten a bit off. We tend to focus on being great in...