Redeeming Your Weaknesses
To find your greatest weakness, first identify your greatest strength and then look right behind it. That’s one of the tragic results of sin: it twists our strengths into weaknesses, just as (-1) x 100 becomes -100. Are you highly intelligent and well-studied in the Bible? Look out, because your knowledge can puff you up […]
How Did You Experience Me?
One of the hardest and yet most profitable questions you can ever ask another person is … “How did you experience me?” In other words … “Please tell me how I made you feel and what you were thinking about me during our recent interaction. I really want to know … even if you think […]
Where Sorrow Begins
C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “Where self begins, sorrow begins.” That’s a diagnosis that explains most of my unhappy moments. Angry? Usually because I am not getting what I want. Resentful? Someone didn’t treat me the way I think they should. Self-pity? People just don’t appreciate me. Bitter? I can’t believe that she, of all people, […]
Hijacked
Peter, James, and John were hijacked. So was Paul. The same was true of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rachel … even David, the man after God’s own heart. Chances are that you’ve been hijacked too. Probably within the last week. It has nothing to do with being on an airplane. It has everything to do […]
Relational Stupidity
I’ve seen a lot of foolish behavior during my thirty-two years as a professional conciliator. Like the man who divorced his lovely Christian wife to marry a woman who had already been married and divorced six times. When I asked him whether he saw a pattern in her life, he said, “Yes I see it, […]
I Am Christ’s!
I wake up some mornings and feel overwhelmed before I even get out of bed. Ministry challenges, relational concerns, personal weaknesses, past failures and future tests swirl through my mind, causing me to doubt myself and fear the day. Time and again, I’ve found encouragement and hope by crawling out of bed, tip-toeing to my […]
Saving Mr. Banks
Disney’s newest movie, Saving Mr. Banks, provides an excellent opportunity for discussing relational wisdom and sharing the gospel of Christ. The movie is built around the contentious relationship between Walt Disney and Pamela L. Travers, the author of the beloved book series, Mary Poppins. Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson play the leading roles with their […]
Wired to Be 3D: RW and Tri-Perspectivalism
God designed us to be three-dimensional in our relationships. Align yourself with this design, and your relationships prosper. Ignore it and they will inevitably suffer. The is the uniform message of Holy Scripture, early church patriarchs, and more recent theologians like C.S. Lewis, John Stott, John Frame and Tim Keller. The 3D’s Are Everywhere From […]
Wired to be 3D
A slightly expanded version of this post is available here. God designed us to be three-dimensional in our relationships. Align yourself with this design, and your relationships prosper. Ignore it and they inevitably suffer. The 3D’s Are Everywhere From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible teaches us how to relate to God (love, trust, worship, obey), […]
R U Morally Superior?
There is one thing you must do in order to judge others, hold a grudge or indulge bitterness. You must constantly affirm yourself as being morally superior to the person you are condemning. You must think … “I have the right to judge you, because I am morally superior to you.” “I have the right […]