God can never entrust His Kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride, for pride is the armor of darkness itself. –Francis Frangipane, pastor and author A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain […]
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RSS feed for this sectionWho Are You Trying to Be?
Has there ever been a little boy who hasn’t dreamt of being a hero? If so, the number would be few. In ancient days, visions of kingship would have abounded in young minds. Several years back, my wife was babysitting a little girl and asked her the typical, “What do you want to be when […]
Insecurity Killed the King – Part II
The tragic story of Saul’s demise provides a powerful historical lesson for anyone aspiring to leadership: unconquered insecurity will corrupt the noblest of ambitions. Sadly, Saul’s error continues to be repeated generation after generation—even among Christian leaders. Shortly after I came to Christ over thirty years ago, I began associating with a Christian movement that […]
Insecurity Killed the King
It seems rather strange that Samuel would anoint the shepherd-boy, David, to be king while the currently reigning king, Saul, still held the throne. Further still, David was not part of Saul’s lineage. Without kinship, David would be seen as competition. When a king feels threatened by a competitor trouble is sure to follow. One […]
Are You FlaWed?
Sshh. I’d prefer that you not tell anyone if at all possible. Somewhere along the line I came to realize that I am a flawed person. But it’s not really something that I want others know. Our world demands perfection and people can be really cruel toward those who are anything less. Such a realization […]
What Does the Bible Say?
This blog series and the ensuing conversations have centered around the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality. We’ve had some interesting dialogue about a lot of issues, but this discussion can in no way be complete without taking into account a Biblical perspective. After all, apart from the Bible, Christianity means almost nothing. I’ve read (and […]
Just a Little Taste of Heaven
Perhaps you’ve done the reunion thing. You pull into the parking lot and sit for a second (a bit of a knot in your stomach), contemplating what lies ahead. The big question is how you look–or more appropriately–how you will look compared to your former classmates. How much hair’s been lost or grayed, how much […]
The Fool’s Run
Excited! That’s how I felt about finishing the Hoodlebug 5K (and getting a shirt) a couple of weeks ago. I asked myself why I hadn’t run a race in over 25 years. And then I remembered! My last 10K (appropriately named The Fool’s Run) was a most miserable experience! Some coworkers from my first job […]
My Sabbath Rest
This is something I wrote quite a few years ago before I really understood how performance is a fig leaf used to try to hide personal imperfections. It’s a little long, but I hope it blesses somebody. Brrr! The world is so cold. Why are they so cruel? Why do they treat me so poorly? […]
Appearance Means Everything!
We seriously dislike shame. In fact, we go to great lengths to avoid it. Can you think of an instance when you hid or covered a weakness or imperfection to avoid the pain of looking bad in front of others? Of course you have! We all have! Some of us work so hard to cover […]