Changing a Murderer into a Minister

Businge Peter Simon passed the long hours in his prison cell dreaming about how he would murder the man who sent him there. But before he could put his plot into action, God intervened in a dramatic way. Here is what Businge wrote to me: Brother Ken, Praise the Lord, God is great, God is […]

The Compassionate Boxer

Cinderella Man is packed with examples of relational wisdom. Russell Crowe plays the part of a real life hero named James J. Braddock. Once a successful heavyweight boxer, Braddock was reduced to poverty by a broken hand and the Great Depression.  After losing their home, he and his family were forced to live in a […]

A Severe Mercy

One of my dearest friends and coworkers passed away ten days ago. Gary Brook had been fighting a respiratory illness for nearly a decade but had finally been approved for a lung transplant in Seattle, Washington. Just hours before his death, he and I had been planning the drive to Seattle. Gary was going through […]

7 Ways to Apply RW in Combat, Congress and the Church

In memory of the military personnel who have risked their lives to protect our freedoms, I am reprinting a post that describes how a highly respected Army officer, now serving as a United States Congressman, lived out relational principles from God’s Word as he led his battalion in the search and capture of Saddam Hussein. […]

A Lost Translation … Almost

XYZ Translators (all names changed) was about to lose a ten-year investment in learning the language of a remote tribe in Africa. John and Janice had lived with the tribe for a decade, building relationships, mastering their vocabulary and creating an alphabet they could use to write a New Testament Bible in their language. Then […]

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. […]