There are many people in the Bible we can’t be like. They cast a Himalayan shadow over us. Their shoes are just too big to fill. You put them on and you trip. Take just a single example. I read about Paul and his exploits and think, “I can sooner play golf like Tiger Woods […]
In “Living Prayer” Robert Benson tells about visiting the Kentucky Abbey, Gethsemani. He learns there that its monks aren’t like him. What makes them different is what they do when the bell rings. The bell rings at specific times during the day with metronomic monotony. It does this every day of the year. When the […]
In our three previous posts on Hebrews 12:5-13 we’ve seen that trials are as certain as rain in Seattle; as potentially profitable as a big day on Wall Street; yet as easily mishandled as a poisonous snake in the hands of a frightened faith healer. The Truth About Optimism So, the question: How do we […]
To paraphrase Paul, before God saved me, “for me to live was basketball.” I was so dedicated that after I became a Christian an older minister friend told me, “Charley, if you follow Jesus the way you followed basketball you’ll be someone God really uses.” God says something similar to us about our trials. As […]
Too many of us find our troubles Bear instead of Bull Markets. Why? Because we don’t face them as Grace Focused Optimists. Why not? Because we don’t listen to what God tells us about them. The point is not that we don’t listen to some of what God says about our troubles. It’s worse. We […]
The late Jack Miller once asked his wife Rose Marie, “If you could change any one thing about me, what would it be?” She said, “Jack, you don’t listen.” Jack answered, “No, no, no” and repeated his question, demonstrating that Rose Marie was spot on. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes too many of us aren’t […]
Clout. Noun. Informal. “Influence or power”: “The President of the United States has a lot of clout.” The cross has clout. It has incomparable influence and peerless power. The Holy Spirit used its message to change Saul of Tarsus from Christianity’s greatest persecutor into Paul its greatest preacher. And it’s this green-thumbed message of the […]
Caution: This post answers one of the most important questions we can ask. It concerns the struggle every Christian experiences when confronted with the reality of their continuing imperfection. The answer will raise more questions than reporters ask in a briefing when they believe Mr. Trump’s done something wrong. The next post will seek to […]
Anyone can light a fire in the hearth of gratitude with the dry seasoned wood of good things. But because God says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:20), we need something that can light a gratitude fire using the wet green […]
Thanking God at mealtime is “saying grace.” This comes from the New Testament’s word for gratitude. It means “good grace.” When you say grace you’re saying, “Lord, this meal is grace and your grace is good! Thanks!” The New Testament also teaches us that saying grace in the sense of thanking God isn’t just for […]
