The planet is in a perpetual winter of sin that has produced a deep state of spiritual hibernation. And early in my faith walk I had joined that group in spiritual slumber. At the time, I looked at the Bible as sacred and important, but it was dead and dormant in terms of being alive in my life on a daily basis.  Like hibernation in the animal world, the Bible describes sinful man as hibernating...

December is my time of reflection on the past and repositioning for the future. A time when I confront reality head on and resolve to think different; act different; be different. This year my thoughts quickly turned to the notion of refuge—where I went when the storms of life crashed my pad. And I thanked God for how he gave me the strength to seek him out with a healthy sense of reality that I was...

Expectancy is one of the most powerful words on the planet! It drives my faith and animates the desires of my heart. And it only takes 36 seconds to give it wings and the power to fly. We just need to do it! Earlier in my life I underestimated the power expectancy had on my worldview. But then God showed me that if I wasn’t expecting him to turn my life in a new and joyous direction, how could...

My end-of-year review hunkered down pretty deep over the last few days as I pondered that nettlesome but critically-important question “what have you done with your salvation, Mark?” I ask this question a lot throughout the year, but camp out on it in December with an extra level of scrutiny. It’s a self-challenging process that starts at the very beginning with recognition that I have come to faith...

Early in my faith walk I wanted to visit Bali or Fiji or Tahiti and stay in one of those bungalows hovering above the ocean’s cobalt ink. I wanted to rest peacefully under the sparking glints of sunlight that would later be punctuated by a silver moon dangling from a string so close you could touch its rough skin. Okay, fair enough. But there was more to that picture than those alluring components....

I was frozen in place with too many options. Too many unknowns. Too many chances to do nothing. It was earlier in my faith walk when I thought options and choices equaled FREEDOM. My calculus was simple: God allows multiple options in a believer’s life, right? Yes. Ok, so options must be good.    A few years down life’s road I realized that God often gives us a multiplicity of choices that...

Starting today Americans began reaching for their wallet to spend money on Christmas. By the end December, that spending will reach nearly ONE HALF TRILLION DOLLARS! And that’s just one part of what can only be described as a frenetic, 40-DAY NOISE WAR. But I do not want to argue any of that today. My goal here is to address the CANNIBALIZATION of our mind-share and heart-share that takes place between...

It is impossible for me to fully articulate the depth of my thankfulness today. But there is ONE THING that stands out beyond the TANGIBLE and deeply appreciated provisions I have received from God—and that is the bundle of less-visible INTANGIBLES. Like the way God lifted a bulging burden…soothed a pulsating pain…and healed a reeling relationship. Like the way he brought a man into my life who, literally,...

It has been excruciating to watch the “Camp Fire” march through and consume the quaint mountain town of Paradise, California. That pain is palpable for me because the incredible beauty of Paradise was what enticed my wife Cindy and me to escape periodically from our college stress 25 minutes away in Chico. The horrific images passing in front of my eyes over the past couple of weeks have prompted...

Our lives are a composite picture of our decisions and choices—over 35,000 every day. In the next 20 years we will make over 2 MILLION of them! Many of these choices are INCONSEQUENTIAL. When to eat. What to watch. How to act. When to sleep. What to click.    But along the way we will make CONSEQUENTIAL decisions that anchor our life mosaic. Some will be life-changing in exhilaratingly positive...