Month: January 2012
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What’s of more value than rubies?
Are you wise? Wisdom is knowledge matched with understanding. There is probably no time in a person’s life that is more packed with danger than the teen years. Why? Because teens generally have greater freedoms but they have not yet developed the discernment and insight that allows them to fully appreciate the long-term consequences of […]
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Salty Talk
Do you find having a civil conversation somewhat more difficult these days? The high pressure, fast moving way that we live has seriously diminished our ability to discuss things on which we disagree without soon coming to sharp disagreement. We trust others less having seen many people profess one set of beliefs publicly while failing […]
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Are you cleaning the corners?
Dr. George O. Wood, head of the national church in which I serve, a man who is head of 30,000 ministers and 11,000 churches, offered this homely observation. “If a church’s restroom is clean, it says that the leadership is taking care of the small things and everything else is probably going well, too.” (Road […]
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“The truth that heals”
From where I sit, it appears that ‘criticizing the leader’ is our new national sport! President Obama is regularly subjected not just to observations about his policies, but harsh criticism about everything he’s done by the panels on FOX. If you listen to the critics on MSNBC, the current crop of Republican candidates cannot do […]
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“This hurts me more than it hurts you.”
When our parents took away our privileges because we were irresponsible, we promised ourselves we would never say what they said at that moment, “This hurts me more than it hurts you.” Fifteen years later we are looking at our crying son, who’s just lost his video game privileges for a week, and we hear […]
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Bruised Reeds and Smoky Wicks
God is All-Powerful! Majesty belongs to Him, and rightly so. He is named, “Lord of Hosts” or as we might better understand it, “General, head of Heaven’s Armies” in the Old Testament. Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, the Righteous Judge are titles belonging to Him. So we loudly lift our voices in song, “How […]
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When Your Heart Breaks
“Comfort zone” is a phrase that has entered our vocabulary to describe situations we find acceptable. Getting dragged or pushed out of that zone can make us miserable inside and out! When we’re stressed, some of us look for “comfort food” that remind us of happy times and places; usually it is simple fare like […]
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Gone with the Wind
I am reading the autobiography of one of our better known politicians, a man of stature and accomplishment. The book reveals a prideful, opportunistic person, ready to catch whatever wind is blowing at the moment in order to advance himself. If the pronoun “I” were taken out of the book, it would be shorter by […]
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The dancer I want to be
Somewhere I found suggestion for forming a new bond with my wife. “Take dance lessons. She will love it.” So, I enrolled us for swing dance class at the local fitness center. Really, I did! Our instructors opened the first session by putting on a song and showing us the end result they hoped to […]
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I’m going to Disney World (not really)
I struggle to reconcile two ideas that seem to compete: work and rest. Either I am resting or I am working, but I cannot do both at the same time, can I? Yes, I can and I should. Jesus Christ teaches that work and rest are complementary in our lives: “Come to me, all of […]
CoffeeBreak With The Word 