I’ll admit that I woke up this morning and took a look at one of my aggregate news sites before getting in any Jesus time. That little exercise might have just skewed my whole day. Instead of basking in the love of Jesus, I saw – as if I didn’t know – just how awful this temporal world is.
Why are we living in fear?
When Jesus was arrested, the disciples bolted and ran. At the crucifixion itself, I’m guessing some of them felt close to despair. They deserted Him because they were flat-out scared, and the best some of them could manage while Jesus was on the cross was to watch from a distance.
Negative self-talk and other perils of life.
As Christians, we believe that we are created in the image of God and that God loves us unconditionally. However, sometimes we forget this truth and allow negative self-talk to take over our minds. This is a pretty nasty deal.
Embracing self-pity.
If you’re going to embrace self-pity, you might as well embrace misery. It’s a funny thing. Some people simply seem to enjoy feeling bad for themselves. Respectfully, if that’s true of you, I have a simple question: How has self-pity helped you improve your life? I get it. I do. This is one of those […]
7 life rules for 2023
It seems that some “life rules” for this new year might be in order. There’s nothing magical about these, but they seem pretty appropriate. Fact is, they’re good life rules for any year.
How to suffer well.
Christianity doesn’t give us a free pass out of suffering. You will suffer. I guarantee it. It’s right and proper to acknowledge you’re hurting, and hurting bad. Just because you’re a Christian doesn’t mean your suffering will be any easier or more endurable What it does mean is that you can see your suffering as one point in a timeline that stretches out into eternity. For Christians, that means that the best is still ahead of us.
Being whole: 7 thoughts.
What does it look like to be whole? I want to be whole. I’ve been on this kick of moving from brokenness to wholeness. You probably have recognized this. I’ve figured this out – not because I’m all that brilliant, but just because it’s self-evident. The thought is to be complete in Christ. That’s what […]
Why NOT me?
“Why me?” Have you ever asked that? I have, and I’ll bet you have too. I don’t think it’s because any of us feel entitled, but it is a natural response when things are piling up on us. Why me? It’s a hard question. I’ve prayed plenty of prayers that started out with “Why…?” Several […]
Moving from brokenness to wholeness.
This “brokenness to wholeness” paradigm is a pony I’m riding hard these days. Why? Because I’m seeing broken Christians everywhere I turn, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. So in these days I want to contribute to the Kingdom by addressing this, and even providing some tools to move hurting believers in […]
Helping broken Christians feel better.
These days, I’m fixated on helping broken Christians feel better.
It’s tempting to talk about “in this season of life,” or “my calling,” or other noble-sounding catch phrases. These can become cliche real fast.
Seriously, though, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I’m supposed to be when I grow up. Helping broken Christians feel better might be part of that equation.
Return to wholeness.
Through my service in Christian ministry for 40+ years, I’ve seen so many believers stall out in their faith – they spend their days frustrated, defeated, and even desperate. Broken, in other words. The fulfilling Christian life that others seem to experience eludes them.I know what I’m talking about – you could count me among that number.
7 things out of my control (Part 1).
There are some things that take up too much headspace for me – specifically, things that are out of my control. I realized when I started writing this particular blog that I had way too much to share in just one sitting. So this will be continued next time, okay? (Teaser!) Fact is, there are […]