You've seen it. Maybe at times you've even felt it. Fear. Particularly, fear related to COVID-19. Fear that you or someone you know might get it. Fear to be out in public in high-contact situations. Fear of the economic impact. Fear of losing your rights. Fear that churches will not...
Once upon a time, there were two trolls. Norris the Troll was known mainly for his incredibly large nose. Most in the forest didn't know if he was nice or mean, artistic or scientific, vegetarian or a frog-eater. Just his big nose. It was so large that he often hurt himself when he opened a door...
I'm not holding my breath waiting for COVID-19 to be over with. And by that, I don't mean that I'm not expecting us to ever get out of our homes. Rather, I mean that I'm not just going to wait until most of this is behind us. This is a rich time now! God's power is not weaker than this...
Recent events (COVID-19, politics, insomnia) have gotten me to thinking about power. Power is what gets work done or at least applies a force on something. First, there is entrepreneurial power. This is not a technical term, but a term I'm using for sake of discussion. Entrepreneurial power...
If someone walked up to you and gifted you with five million dollars, would you immediately know what you wanted to do with all of it? Your head might start spinning so fast and the largess of the gift might keep you a little bit off-center enough to where you would end up not making the most of...
I've been working through 1 Peter very slowly in my Quiet Time lately. I am seeing some amazing things there that are deepening my understanding in new ways, and that's always exciting. 1 Peter has a lot to say about suffering, putting it in right perspective. But there's not enough space...
My sister-in-law had a job she didn't like. She was in leadership at a private school and loved much about the work - the students, the teaching methodology and principles, and the mission. However, there were some parts of the work that were so bad that she eagerly made her exit at the end of a...
There's an annoying thing about getting older - the flaws in yourself that you've been able to successfully pretend aren't there become harder to ignore. Maturity, schmaturity. I'm becoming increasingly aware that when people give me heartburn, I have that heartburn in part because my heart was...
My mother lives in assisted living nearby in a facility that also has a section for memory care residents. We also have memory care residents just across our church parking lot next door, folks who our Sunday school kids visit on a monthly basis. Memory care issues are pure frustration both for...
I recently heard a challenging thought: American evangelicals are worried about prosperity. Many evangelicals overseas are worried about poverty. These are broad generalizations, but when you look at the aggregate, it's far, far more true than we care to admit. We are blessed with relative...