St. Augustine and I Share a Common Lust
I share a lust with St. Augustine. Although he was a pillar of the church, he regularly prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” We all inherited this lust from our original parents, who invented the art of excusing sin and justifying ourselves by blaming others (Gen. 3:9-13). I have […]
Reputation vs Character
Jeff’s reputation was being trashed by people in his own church. He was respected throughout the city for his outstanding Sunday school classes, which had drawn hundreds of people to his church. But then he got caught in the middle of a congregational battle over the senior pastor. A group of members had become increasingly […]
Penetrating Barriers with the Gospel
Megan had switched on a force field that put the Starship Enterprise to shame.
It had been another one of our difficult home-schooling days.
One Simple Habit that Transforms Relationships
One of the best ways to improve your relationships is to develop the habit of drawing attention to EGGs. Not the ones you cook or search for at Easter, but the innumerable Evidences of God’s Grace that he lavishes on you and those around you … and calls you to recount to others. As David […]
Curse or Consecrate
Three months before graduating from law school, I decided I did not want to be a lawyer. Two years of interning for a plaintiff’s attorney had shown me that the adversarial system brought out my worst characteristics: pride, aggressiveness and a compulsive desire to win arguments. Although many outstanding attorneys master these types of tendencies, […]
Stupidity of Bitterness
Indulging in bitterness is one of the most stupid things we ever do. How stupid is it? Well, think about it this way. Imagine that someone stabbed you in the arm with a knife, leaving it there. After he flees, you stare in horror at the knife, then in agony take the handle in your […]
Round Four with Cancer … and It’s Still All About Relationship
The last thing you want to hear from your doctor after three battles with cancer is, “I’ve got some bad news for you.” But if those words arrive just two days before Christmas, as they did for me in 2020, it’s actually a lot easier to put them in an eternal context. The Savior we […]
The Last Human Freedom
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude.” So wrote Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, living through the deprivation and horrors of both Auschwitz and Dachau. Consider the background for his writing about freedom. His wife, parents and brother were killed by the Nazis. His captors […]
The Myths of Divorce
The Myths of Divorce Most of us would not consider ourselves to be gullible or naïve, yet Scripture often reminds us, “Do not be deceived.” (e.g., James 1:16, Gal. 6:7). In truth, we are easily deceived. We often latch on to a piece of “worldly wisdom” that sounds good to us and justifies our actions, even […]
How Well Do You Love Your Enemies?
Do you have an enemy today? Someone who has has done you great harm or is out to get you right now? Perhaps it’s not been quite that bad. Perhaps someone has simply spoken critically to you or about you, or has otherwise disappointed or failed you in a hurtful way. How are you treating […]