A man approached Jesus about a personal matter. He asked Jesus to tell his brother to divide an inheritance with him. We immediately ask ourselves what the laws and customs of inheritance were back then. If it were merely a matter of law, the man would not need to come to Jesus about the issue.
Read MoreA piece of advice for people who are struggling to change bad habits is to create an objective distance, while keeping it very personal. What does that mean? Let’s take the example of someone who isn’t getting enough sleep and knows it. However, that person isn’t making any changes but remains caught in the feelings, emotions, and cycles that perpetuate the thing they want to eliminate. The whole situation could change around if the person
Read MoreEveryone desires contentment. We all want to be able to sit back at the end of the day feeling satisfied with who we are and what we do. However, it is sometimes a challenge to be content with being content. Too often we want what we don’t have. Even worse, we want what our neighbor has. When my boys, Wesley and Nate, were younger,
Read MoreThe second law of thermodynamics states that all things move toward disorder if there is not additional energy put into the system. I think back on when my kids were still in the house. Day by day clothing was shed and dropped on the floor, beds went unmade, and clothes were tried on and shoved haphazardly into drawers. And the rooms
Read MoreJesus calls us to be a missional church. The Disciples were overwhelmed, afraid, in disbelief after the crucifixion of Jesus. They must have been walking around in a dream state like we do when a loved one suddenly passes away. As far as the Disciples were concerned, it was over. All that Jesus and they had been working towards had
Read MoreIn our performance driven society we quickly learn that our acceptance, recognition, and rewards in life come directly from our performance as a worker, a child, a spouse, and a friend. We are seduced into thinking that we deserve all the good things coming our way. Our logic is impeccably bad: I received something good, therefore I
Read MoreI like to think I am a pretty good guy. In fact, we all think we are fairly decent. It is easy for us to point to our good qualities and downplay our ‘rough edges’. To be honest, we are masters of self-deception! We are even like that with God. We ask God for some help to take care of a few things that we don’t seem to be able to clean up or quite get right. We think we are okay with the rest –that we can manage it ourselves. In Mere Christianity C. S.
Read MoreLife is a rollercoaster adventure. The Beast was the longest, fastest, tallest wooden rollercoaster in the US back in the early 80’s. It was a thrill! Wooden rollercoasters are very different from the new smooth steel ones. The sound was deafening. You felt like the structure was going to completely break apart when you went through the dark
Read MoreHow’s your attitude? What is your outlook on life that sets your course? When we look around, we see people grasping. Grasping for recognition. Grasping for power. Grasping for position. Grasping for relationships. We grasp when we think we are alone, nobody will see us or be with us unless we push ourselves forward. We also grasp to fulfill our desire to be in control and call the shots. This attitude, however, is counter productive. Paul tells us
Read MorePat Riley, former head coach of the Miami Heat, talked about ‘The disease of me’. When one gets a sense that they are the most important person in the group, the one everyone else should recognize, or the only one with answers, they have ‘the disease of me’. Riley says, “The disease of me ends in the defeat of us.” So true. We need to
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