Even in the pain and depression phase I suffered through earlier in my life, I could sense God urging me to “jump” toward him. That is a tough move to make when one is in pain and stress, the sort of pain and stress I was experiencing at the time. Jumping toward God was the last thing on my mind. It would be like a frightened first-time parachutist who cowers in the plane’s belly and says “no way”...

God wants us to wait for his refining work and look for his perspective even while we are in the vortex of affliction. He wants us to trust the divine timing and not get discouraged while we’re in the waiting period. The best approach to stop discouragement early is to pray. But as clear and logical as that is, many believers seem to respond in exactly the opposite way. That is, the bigger the trouble,...

God’s Word is full of seemingly unending promises on the subject of worry, fear, and discouragement.    It seems hard to believe that Christians could take these words to heart and still adopt the worry mode when encountering periods of distress. But that is the norm, not the exception.    We allow our anxieties to overwhelm us to the point we neglect giving them over to God first....

As we celebrate our nation’s birthday, I want to draw attention to America’s Twin-Tower Values of Hard Work and Achievement    There is nothing wrong with hard work. Ralph Waldo Emerson was right that “without ambition one starts nothing. Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” There is nothing wrong with having goals and finding happiness...

Let me dive a little deeper by switching metaphors…    We put ourselves at risk when we travel through life without paying attention to those important warning lights flashing their plea for attention on the dashboard. Our car may keep running, but eventually it will break down, and we will not know when it will happen. If we ignore the lights for a long period, we will travel with constant...

The trap is set when a church pulls the trigger too quickly on a new program or action plan.  The leaders calling the shots jump before considering even the most basic questions about 1) the move’s merits; and 2) how the action fits into the church’s vision for the future.    Focusing on tactics without having a strategy is like cotton candy—the initial hit (sugar) traps you, and...

Sodom was married to Gomorrah.  Really? Billy Graham delivered the Sermon on the Mount.  C’mon? Joan of Arc was married to Noah.  Are you kidding?    Of course these lines are false. But they shockingly demonstrate why Biblical Illiteracy in the American church has reached epidemic levels.    Those thoughts are just three of the findings from data released by...