Have you ever tried to FIGURE OUT the people bobbing in and out of your life? Of course. All of us spend considerable time trying to understand the parade of people we encounter. And while we’re working on that impossible task, we try to present ourselves in a certain light so people in our midst can FIGURE US OUT.    It’s one big dance with a lot of bad dancing as everyone tries—unsuccessfully,...

I’ve been setting and reaching goals for my entire adult life. There is NO DOUBT that GOALS have been a significant force and benefit for me—in every part of life–over many years. GOALS ARE GOOD. But do they deserve to be the sole driver of our activities in life, including our faith walk with Christ? NO.    Modern society has held up GOAL-SETTING as a core value for hundreds of years....

I woke up this morning thinking about how much POWER is packed into the word CHALLENGE when a Christian applies it to their walk with Jesus. Self-challenge. NOT group challenge. Internal, introspective challenge. NOT external, judgmental challenge.    I am thinking of CHALLENGE in the context of exposing pathways for spiritual growth, NOT imposing guilt that would cause our faith to regress.    Just...

I have been swimming in thoughts about the immense power of Satan’s DARKNESS ever since yesterday when we embraced God’s truth that Christians who love his LIGHT are living out their new birth. I could not shake it all day. And here I am this morning still wondering if Christians are AFRAID OF THE DARK.    It doesn’t take much looking to find darkness in our world. It is a monster preparing...

Written by Bruce Springsteen and made famous by Manfred Mann, the song BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is loaded with imaginative lyrics over a catchy beat. But the title itself has punched an indelible imprint on my faith walk. WHY? Because it raises two important questions every Christian should consider: 1) Does God’s bright light BLIND or BLESS you? 2) Does it cause you to LOVE?    Christians who...

I’ve spent my entire adult life accumulating knowledge in multiple areas and disciplines—including my faith. I was laser-focused on stimulating my mind. Filling my brain. Growing my understanding. I thought it was serving me well, but God pointed out its errant course by teaching me that I had misused my learning by focusing it INWARD. I had combined the “RIGHT FACTS” with a “WRONG HEART.”    It...

Yes, it’s true…we are to love our enemies. Love the people we dislike. Love the unlovable. Christians and unbelievers. Deceivers and manipulators. Bullies and brutes. ALL OF THEM. Our expression of God’s love is not built on PERSONAL feelings and natural inclinations. It is embedded in his command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27 This is not like picking players for our fantasy football...

QUICK! What runs through the cinema of YOUR mind when you hear the word DISCIPLINE? If you’re like the other 1.4 million followers of this global ministry, at minimum, it grabs your attention. But for many of us, it sends a shudder through our soul that we are reluctant to own. “Of course I’m disciplined,” we say. But keeping God’s call for us to be disciplined top-of-mind is much more difficult,...

I spent half of my adult life with the word OTHERS cut out of my lexicon and vocabulary. Absent. Gone. Dead. The consequence? A decades-long, me-centric spree of success chasing and pleasure plundering. The casualties? PEOPLE. Those around me and those God would have my faith touch and inspire to deepen their own walk with God. That’s a painful chapter in my life’s book, of course. But God has used...

With a focus on SELF, popular songs have burnished the word LOVE into the fabric of today’s society. You know the tunes: From the Beatles’ “All You Need Is LOVE” to Elvis telling us we “Can’t Help Falling in LOVE” and, of course Foreigner proclaiming “I Want To Know What LOVE Is.”    For Christians, LOVE is the very essence of our faith walk and the word SELF is nowhere...