I got trapped fixating on PERFECTION this morning. So I prayed immediately and asked God for a reminder of what I already knew. Something I had allowed to wander away as today’s sun struggled to find an opening through a darkened sky. I started by remembering that seeking perfection is, and has always been, WRONG. What’s different today is how high the stakes have shot through the roof. Yes, perfection...

I know how to give my attitude toward EXPECTATIONS to God. But when the calendar turned to August this year, it was as if I had forgotten it all. I got KNOCKED DOWN emotionally when things weren’t going as planned. When people weren’t acting like I expected them to act. When my mood wasn’t on the right balance beam.   My reaction? I went straight to God to refresh what I already knew but temporary...

Angry Birds is a Finnish-based video game launched in 2009 that focuses on a flock of angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. It is the most popular video game in history. Since these birds are seemingly everywhere, I turn them into “WORRY BIRDS” to remind me of God’s promise to help us turn our back on worry.   “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or...

I spend most of my life in some form of becoming ready, or being ready. I want to be ready as a man, husband, father, grandfather, CEO, and pastor. But MOST OF ALL, I want to be ready for GOD.     If we are spiritually weak and unprepared to face the challenges of life when they hit our shore, we’re LATE.   We may think we’re prepared for our next challenge. But when it arrives, we...

I got FLIPPED OVER yesterday while praying for this ministry. I’m not sure why yesterday’s prayer time was different for me. I pray every day for all of you and ask that God give you the strength and wisdom to follow him with everything in your heart, mind, and soul. But answering that question about why yesterday’s prayer time was different than others does not matter.   We will...

Criticism has been a human condition FOREVER. But today’s nasty descendent has morphed into a form almost unrecognizable from its original mold. It is a product of the social media boom, of course. But that online version of criticism has leaked over into offline life where criticism has become sport. Online or offline, criticism has sank its barbed talons into our mind and heart. As Christians, we...

It seems like every couple of years I need to be reminded that God tells his children to be brave. I wrote about this in 2020, but my focus was on the pandemic wildfire that was spreading unchecked around the world.   What’s different today?   The level of bravery I’m seeing now — and sometimes feeling personally – is occasional. Sporadic. Situational. Intermittent. Conditional.  ...

FEAR NOT. QUICK! What just went through your mind in response to those two words? Were your thoughts mostly POSITIVE on viewing “Fear Not” as a safe refuge from the world’s uncertainty?   Or did your mind cough up something NEGATIVE that looked at “Fear Not” as an impossibility in your life today?   A quick review of past comments from our global online tribe revealed that about 80% of the...

Yesterday’s celebration of America’s independence was different for me. Of course it was precious family time with incredible aromas spewing forth from my overworked barbeque. But here’s what was gnawing at my psyche and tugging on my soul: The world is quickly running out of PATIENCE like a kid runs out of nickels on his first run to the mini mart.   This inexorable march of IMPATIENCE has been...

I see a troubling pattern coming out of comments from our global online tribe–NUMBNESS. It’s not really depression. It’s not really sadness. It’s not really hopelessness. It feels more like: “My faith walk is INACTIVE because I’m NUMB.” I’ve been feeling a little of that lately myself. It’s hard to put a finger on it other than to say we all seem...