It’s tough to look at Good Friday as a celebration with all of the pain and cruelty Jesus endured on a deadly timber atop Golgatha. All of the optics—at least on the surface—scream bleakness, futility, and hopelessness. But we celebrate anyway because God made these three days that changed the world forever to be a victory march to life.    Though we may be tempted to sugar-coat the Easter...

It’s Holy Thursday and my attention is locked on God’s SERVICE-DRIVEN LOVE. Holy Thursday is yet another opportunity to reflect on the incredible gift Jesus gave us by dying on the Cross. To right our wrongs. Heal the fractures in our soul. And, of course, to pay the ransom for our sins.    But there is so much more.    On this day in this glorious Holy Week, Christians around...

I released control to the dentist. I released control when the plane took off. And I released control when the roller coaster barreled down the track. But I did not release control to God. During this time early in my faith walk, I released nothing. Not the possessions. Not the thoughts. Not the succeed-at-all-costs credo.    And then I read this:    “…whoever wants to be my disciple...

There aren’t many things worse than being BETRAYED. And, in almost every case, the pain transcends the act itself because it brings a passenger along for the ride—feeling vulnerable to being hurt. Betrayal is a TRUST-BUSTER. And the closer we are to the betrayer, the more it hurts to be betrayed and have our trust bond broken.    Jesus knew all about betrayal. The fall of Judas could have...

Godly regret is an all-consuming sadness that pays a visit and pervades our soul when we fall short of the Lord’s standard. It drops a repenting believer to their knees and uncorks a flood of tears tinged with grief.   Real regret, Godly regret, is GOOD because the pain it triggers becomes a “REPENTANCE ALERT.”    That alert should prompt us to ask these questions: Does my repentance...

Holy Week is an opportunity to take our faith beyond the blessing of celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus on Easter. An opportunity to remember the deity and humanity of Christ. An opportunity to reflect on his character. To make the most of those opportunities, each day during Holy Week I will post a blog to prepare our hearts to receive Christ on Easter Sunday.    This week...

MINDSHARE is one of the most powerful forces on the planet as myriad images and choices constantly snake across our mind’s cinema. Marketers spend BILLIONS of dollars to develop MINDSHARE because they know that market share comes AFTER mind share. Think Kleenex. Coke. Q-Tips. Xerox. Band-Aid. What do you think the MINDSHARE is for a “Plate Spinner” at the circus who frantically spins multiple plates...

Last night I saw an image that will never leave my mind. I was watching a documentary on the 1970s war in Lebanon and was awestruck by an image that came out of nowhere. It would be a good guess if you’re thinking the image showed carnage, war, death, or destruction. But it was none of those things. No blood. No pain. No graves.    The image that is now seared into my mind forever is a city...

Most Christians know about the dangers lurking behind the Get-Rich-QUICK mentality of our time. You know, those fantastic “deals” that flash surface logic that belies a nefarious underbelly. Get-Rich-QUICK schemes by definition have trouble written all over them and are fairly easy to spot in their dramatic entry and over-the-top allure.    Of course we should pay attention to that temptation...

We will always and forever hear this line: “DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF.” We will hear it at home. We will hear it at work. And we will hear it in our private thoughts about God. But no matter when or where it shows up, that line will be a LIE! An immutable law of our universe is that a whole is the sum of its parts. But that is not why SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF is an important part of the Christian...