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 […]
Wounding and Healing
Many of us have no idea how often we wound the people around us. We don’t deliberately set out to hurt others, but because of our natural insensitivity, we frequently stomp on others’ dreams and feelings without even realizing it. The following video clip illustrates this problem … and how to correct it. It’s taken […]
The Compassionate Boxer
Cinderella Man is one of my favorite movies, largely because it stars Russell Crowe, one of my favorite actors. The story is based on the life of 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 […]
Clarity Plus Charity
Last week I posted a story on my blog entitled “Time to Let Go.” In that post I included this statement: “Sometimes [letting go] will call for … accepting a divorce to preserve some measure of cooperative parenting rather than dragging a legal battle out for months.” The next day I received two very different […]
Time to Let Go
When I was in college, I tried to impress a young lady by taking her canoeing on a rapidly flowing stream. I chose a bad stretch of water, and within fifteen minutes we hit rapids that threw us against a large rock in the middle of the stream. In an instant, the canoe turned sideways […]