Good Cop, Great Cop
Deputy Matt Holman saved the life of a homeless man staggering toward destruction. His name was Robert Morris. He’d lost his family, become an addict, and was living in a tent in the woods … until it was washed away late one night in a flood. As Mr. Morris reported in a recorded 911 call, […]
Three Pennies a Week
Every relationship has a limited amount of social capital. Among other things, this means that you need to exercise wisdom in how often you initiate uncomfortable conversations with those around you, whether in your family, church or workplace. Think of it like this: imagine that you can spend only “three pennies of criticism” in a […]
Springing from Adversity to Worship
Adversity tends to pull us down. It hurts when others sin against us, take us for granted, fail to stand up for us, or break their commitments to us. Such treatment can easily cause us to feel discouraged, bitter or depressed. But there is a way to convert these kinds of unpleasant feelings into heartfelt worship […]
Shooting My Car
I almost shot my car after one of our Montana blizzards. A foot of wet snow had fallen in just a few hours and the roads were impossible. I’d been out earlier in the day in my son’s Honda, and had struggled to make it up the long hill leading to our street. It took […]
How to Test a Confession
There is a simple way to test the sincerity of a confession … whether yours or someone else’s. How detailed is your plan for repentance? “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret (turning from sin, growing in Christ-like character, and enjoying a clear conscience), whereas worldly grief produces death (empty words, […]
Habit Change Is a Team Project
Habits exert enormous influence in our lives. For better or worse, they guide most of our daily activities, guiding us automatically through routine behaviors (like brushing our teeth), which frees our minds to focus on issues that require deliberate thinking (like, “Now what was it my wife told me she wanted for her birthday?”) Over […]
Immersed in Technology
As you may have noticed, I missed last week’s blog post … the first one in 160 weeks! Why? Because I’ve been immersed in all of the new electronic equipment and software that we’re bringing online in order to produce the next generation of RW resources. Over the past two weeks I’ve: Learned how to […]
Idolatrous Habits
Many of our habits are spiritually neutral, such as the way we brush our teeth or the route we drive to work. Other life patterns clearly violate spiritual values, such as being addicted to drugs, alcohol or pornography, or reacting to correction with automatic anger or blame shifting. There are also habits that may be […]
Conquering M&M’s (and Premature Advice)
My wife seemed to be testing my resolve. A month ago I decided that it was time to do battle with my love for candy. That meant not slipping into the pantry two or three times a day to raid the jar of M&M’s we keep for our grandson. I was doing great for three […]
Seven Principles of Habit Change
I was sitting on the patio of an expensive restaurant in Beirut. Six young Lebanese were sitting at the table next to us, glued to their smart phones. Not a word of conversation between them for minutes on end, a shared agreement that people elsewhere were more interesting than anyone at their table. Each of […]