Overcoming Artificial Maturity
Thousands of high school and college seniors are about to graduate and launch into the next season of their lives. Most of them are less prepared for that transition than they realize. Regardless of how well they’ve done academically, most graduates today suffer from a condition called “artificial maturity.” Thousands of hours on the internet […]
Emotionally Hijacked Official Loses Job
I inherited my love for practical jokes from my uncles. One of them was particularly adept at catching me off guard. Like the time he called me on the phone and said he was a police officer with a warrant for my arrest for unpaid traffic tickets. His timing was perfect because I had just […]
Two Free eBooklets on Empathy
Every person on the face of the earth has a God-given capacity for empathy and compassion. Like every other ability, however, empathy does not improve on its own. But with deliberate practice, each of us can see steady and lasting improvement in this vital relational skill, which powerfully reflects the image of Christ in us. […]
Lincoln’s Relational Wisdom
The current political climate, at both state and national levels, has highlighted the close connection between politics, pride and emotion. In an outward sense, every politician is constantly striving to build credibility, prestige and influence by highlighting his or her abilities and positions while connecting with the values and emotions of the audience. In […]
Reagan, Lincoln, RW and You
Study Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln and you’ll learn a great deal about how to relate to your spouse, children, co-workers and the people in your church or ministry. Both men displayed their exceptional relational skills on the world stage. Lincoln led our country through the Civil War, the bloodiest period in our nation’s history. […]
What Makes Powerful People Cry
I recently learned what makes some of the most powerful people in the world cry. Dr. Michael Lindsay, President of Gordon College, has interviewed 550 of the most successful political, business, and nonprofit leaders in the United States. This group included two U.S. presidents, cabinet members like Collin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, and numerous Fortune […]
Confession Killers
If you want to diminish the value of a confession, use one of these three phrases. “I’m sorry if I’ve done something to upset you.” When you use “if” in a confession, what people often hear is, “I don’t know that I’ve done anything wrong, but since you’re obviously upset, here’s a token apology to […]
Destroy Your Enemies
As the Civil War was coming to an end, it seemed inevitable that the North would prevail. President Lincoln had many discussions with administration “hardliners,” who hotly opposed his intention to be merciful and generous to the South. During one particularly heated conversation, one of those men rebuked Lincoln, saying that the North must “destroy […]
Glory to God and Peace Among Men
My mother passed away ten years ago on Christmas Eve. She was totally at peace and eager to see her Savior face-to-face. Not so my father. In the last hours of his life, he was anything but peaceful. He was painfully aware of his many sins but had not put his trust in Christ. He […]
500,000 and Counting!
Just before Christmas, I learned that over 500,000 copies of The Peacemaker are now in circulation in seventeen different languages. I also discovered that we are now seeing 400 unique visitors to our website every day, usually to read our weekly blog on relational wisdom and biblical peacemaking. God is graciously using these resources, along […]