There are bad days, really bad days, and occasionally horrible days. Well…I would have to consider yesterday, a sunny day smack dab in the middle of June, horrible because it seemed to feature some kind of challenge from every role I play in my life. Earlier in my faith walk these horrible days would knock me out like a punch from Mike Tyson in his prime. Yesterday was different. It was still...

Fastening the two words SIMPLE and DIFFICULT together presents a whopping contradiction, right? Of course. But scratching through that surface observation reveals a pairing that makes a powerful point for our faith walk. Consider this… SIMPLE The SIMPLE part of this story is acknowledging the pernicious power lurking in the bowels of Satan’s stadium of darkness. Most Christians have little difficulty...

Hey Mark…are you ever SAD for no apparent reason?”    That’s a common question tossed my way by members of our global online tribe. My answer is always the same: “Of course.” But I’ve been waiting for one of those SAD moments that God might use to help others.    That opportunity came YESTERDAY when I roused my weary bones from a very rare restless night of unsettled discomfort. I woke up with a twinge...

I won’t even try to express the pain in my heart and in all Americans after Tuesday’s mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that extinguished 21 precious souls—two teachers and 19 grade-school kids a couple of days away from summer vacation.   I cannot count the number of comments this ministry has received expressing grief, anger, and confusion. Some of the comments, in one form or another, are tethered...

I just returned from spending a couple of weeks in Europe–my first vacation in seven years—and want to share something that God grabbed my attention with along the way. It’s a new way of looking at a verse I have read many hundreds of times: “A sensible person gathers the crops when they are ready; it is a disgrace to sleep through the time of harvest.” Proverbs 10:5 (GNT) This verse showed...

A shallow FAITH ANCHOR–or worse, one that stays in the boat—makes it difficult to fully believe that God is in control and we aren’t. And it produces two very real THREATS to our walk with God: 1) It makes it more difficult to fight through the challenges of life; and 2) It makes it more difficult to model Christ in a way that helps others reject Satan’s lies and endure the tests and trials...

Early in my faith walk, I was NOT curious about ANYTHING related to God. I was too busy chasing prestige and power. Money and mansions. Success and satisfaction.    Looking back on that now prompts me to ask myself when my curiosity died.    cu·ri·ous: eager to know or learn something.    God gives children a natural curiosity about life and its wonder. He gives them...

“You’ll Never Amount To Anything.”   You may not have heard those exact words spoken in that exact way, but I would guess all of us have heard that message in one form or another at some stage in our life. I certainly have. Both as a kid and later as an adult Christian falling prey to the dark voices pinging my inner ear and piercing my fragile heart.   Hearing that damning message, in any...

Early in my faith walk, I thought KINDNESS was “being nice” to people. Of course that’s true, but Christian kindness has so much more depth and meaning. We need to ask Jesus to understand what that brand of kindness looks like.   Let’s start with what kindness is for a Christian.   Jesus modeled kindness as a character trait that came out of him every day of his ministry. Even while suffering...

Recognizing our INADEQUACY without God is a SPIRITUAL IMPERATIVE, right? Yes, it is. And one of the most menacing roadblocks to that end is PRIDE.   PRIDE is a swamp with percolating quicksand teeming with alligators. A swamp that triggers a welter of bad thoughts and bad behaviors. A swamp where pain and despair keep us from: 1) Recognizing our INADEQUACY without God, and 2) Being transformed...