Division is a cancer in a community, church, or family. And you need to know exactly how to stop it. — I was only a child. My family was fighting as every family does. Charged words were yelled. Doors slammed. Walls, both physical and unseen, went up in a family that had been united. How many of us have experienced this same crushing effect in our […]
Freaky Friday: Fall in Love With Your Spouse After — Not Before — You’re Married
The lights dim. The honeymoon romance is hot. Jimmy is a Christian stud, one in a million guy. Jenny is gorgeous, every hair perfectly in place, a smile always on her face, the kind of girl every guy wants. Everyone sighs. Why can’t we all have love like this? This is how it was meant […]
Why You Have to Be Gangsta to Make People Respect Your Words
Most people don’t care what you have to say. They hear advice all day, and your words are just chirping in the background of a world they’ve long tuned out. That’s why you need to do something bold, something unpredictable to get their attention. In the Godfather: Part 2, young Vito Corleone, played by Robert Dinero, shuffles […]
Does God Want You to Be Lazier?
I bet you’ve never heard someone say when you trusted in Jesus you were saved into lazy Christianity. I can see it now. “Go out into all the world and make lazy slobs of all nations.” “Blessed are the lazy; for they will be served good things.” And best of all, “They will know we […]
The Parable of the Good Hipster
Jesus once asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” And you know, I can’t answer that. But I can tell you who my celebrity is. — If Jesus had come to the United States instead of Bethlehem to save the world, he probably would’ve come to Nebraska. This would’ve made up for all the jokes I’ve […]
Is Your Light Blocking Jesus?
You are the light of the world. But if the light loses its illumination, how can it become light again? — My son and I were playing in our living room when he stopped and cowered. “Dock, Daddy.” He pointed to a shadow behind our couch, the crease where the back meets the wall and imaginations […]
Your Light is Worth Nothing Without Salt
Packed in the middle of the Beatitudes, nestled amidst the merciful, those who mourn, and a righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees, is a pair of metaphors that holds the key to your faith. If you can’t remember the meeks or poor in spirits, if you don’t quite know what it means to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, pay attention to these little metaphors and you’ll […]
The Negative Thoughts in Your Head Are Not YOU
One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking the negative thoughts in their head are from them. They’re not. Not by a long shot. — A long time ago, back in the distant past, long before kings and princes, the dark night of the soul or the enlightenment — an apple was presented to a beautiful woman. A tempting offer of prestige […]
When God Doesn’t Heal You, But Smacks You in the Face, Instead
Some people don’t believe God does miracles. I can empathize with them. It’s a lot easier to believe in a God who never does anything than one who heals, rescues, delivers, and saves, because it’s easier to defend this God when he upholds his end of the bargain and, in fact, does nothing at all. This […]
The Lie of God’s Perfect Will
Life is full of choices. At some point you have to make them. The least you can do is be honest about the choices you make. And when it comes to God, you only have two — you can choose to obey or choose to disobey. Nowhere in the middle. That is the choice.