Our faith walk is much less demanding when we are living it out in front of others to see. Much less stressful when we join others at church on Sunday. And much less work when we are serving God’s Kingdom in front of a crowd. Those provocative thoughts ran through my mind like a flash flood last week when a friend was talking about his faith as if his “seen” behavior was somehow different than his...

There is so much pain in our world today that many people see no other option but to collect it like sports memorabilia or vintage Barbie dolls. The purpose of their pain-collecting hobby? ASSIGN BLAME! Here’s how it plays out… Pain collectors develop an internal narrative that plays continuously in the cinema of their mind. The script is predictable. Take a look at a few cuts: “Focus on how you have...

The “truth is relative” aphorism is getting used so much today that people are starting to believe the lie. And that is very sad. Suffering from careless overuse, the term looks like stadium turf crying in pain after 50,000 raucous celebrants have danced to the ChainSmokers.    I know, it sounds hip to accept “relative truth” and announce to the politically-correct politburo that we are...

It was during my years as a striving-and-stressed CEO that the FEAR of keeping it all together—making payments on a mansion and sports car while fulfilling my role as husband and father—hit the critical danger level. If it was a James Bond movie the red lights on the control panel would be freaking out. It was then that I allowed God to break through and help me build a new attitude about fear.   ...

Tired and spent, 2018 just left town and paved the way for 2019 to appear on the scene with its fresh face. The time for reflecting on the past 12 months has vanished like a child’s balloon escaping into the hungry sky. With that, we can start considering what’s next for us on God’s road. You know by now I am not a fan of new year resolutions. The biggest stumbling block for me is how most of the...

As 2018 begins walking off stage, I am mindful of the fresh canvas God gives us for a new year brimming with its inspirational promises and powerful rush of glorious hope. That fresh canvas, peeking over the horizon right now, is the same offer of forgiveness and grace that God gives us every day. It’s God’s fresh canvas to be forgiven and look forward with bold, Christ-like confidence. It’s God’s...

Reality is obstinate and stubborn. Obdurate and inflexible. Recalcitrant and uncompromising. Reality is what will not go away when we stop thinking about it or escape momentarily from its grasp. Yes, Christians have been accused of escapism for a very long time. Karl Marx accused Christians of using their religion as an opiate to escape life’s discomfort.     This dystopian view of...

I’m watching 2018 begin its final march into the sunset with a burning desire to make 2019 more significant than the year it nudges off the horizon. More significant in understanding my life purpose. And more significant in serving others who need God’s love and hope. But making that dream a reality is not an automatic result from making another passive resolution and prayer for the new year. NO!...

A close friend of mine is struggling mightily with the notion of fairness right now as he endures a barrage of attacks from a troubled bully. His plea for prayer last night got me thinking that all of us face this challenge. That’s why I include this two-part question in my year-end spiritual assessment: 1) How did I handle personal attacks in the past year; and 2) How should I deal with them in the...

Life on earth is full of TOXICITY that can quickly ooze into our bloodstream and eventually reach our brain…and then our heart…and, eventually, our soul. These ubiquitous toxins greet us on each cyber wave we surf and each image we put into our mind’s projector. They are predacious and pervasive and powerful…stopping at nothing to compromise our faith and hijack our hope in Christ. The danger...