4 Things I Learned from Stealing Credit Cards and Buying Beer in High School
I have spoken and talked a lot of character implosions over the last year. Leaders in ministry and leaders in the marketplace seem to be imploding at epidemic levels. Some suggest it has always been this way, that we are merely more aware because of our social media feeds and highly connected world. Regardless, people […]
A Change in the Direction of “Woe”
We tend to hate the sin in others much more than we hate the sin in our own lives. In our pride, we tend to judge the motives of others much more than we question our own. We are often much more frustrated with others than we are with ourselves, much less patient with the […]
Why Can’t We Stop Rejoicing?
A few weeks ago on a flight, I read the lead article in Southwest’s magazine titled “Enough Already: Praise gets heavy. So why can’t we stop?” Heidi Stevens, from the Chicago Tribune, wrote a great and funny piece on the downfalls of “praising our kids too much.” She cites research that shows heaping praise on […]
The Power of Asking the Right Question
The following is by Michael Kelley. Michael is director of discipleship at LifeWay Christian Resources and the author of Wednesdays Were Pretty Normal and Boring: Finding an Extraordinary God in an Ordinary Life. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Beeson Divinity School and lives with his wife and three kids in Nashville, Tenn. This […]
Robin Williams and Holy Repetition
Since Robin Williams’ tragic death, many have remembered his greatest acting scenes. Williams was an incredibly gifted actor who entertained, provoked, and challenged us with his craft. We laughed, cried, and reflected. Many have pointed to a scene in the movie Good Will Hunting as one of his greatest. In the scene, Will Hunting, played […]
The Apostle Paul and the Curse of God
Twice in Scripture the apostle Paul paints a picture of a time when he should or would experience the curse of God. In both cases he uses the strong word anathema, which speaks to the curse of God, the wrath of God. In his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul boldly declares that if […]
Changing by Adding
The statement, “I love my wife” is completely changed if something is added to the end of the statement. For example, “I love my wife” is a very different message than “I love my wife when she cooks my favorite meal.” Adding “when they behave” radically alters the statement “I love my daughters.” Addition radically […]
Delighting in the Lord
Psalm 37:4 instructs us to “take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” Surely this verse is not teaching us that if we claim to delight in God, He will give us anything we desire in this world, as in: “God, I love You, so I am ready for the […]
The Never-Ending Need of Multiplying Leaders
The following is a guest post by Ed Stetzer. Ed is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research and he blogs daily at Christianity Today. Ed and I recently co-authored Transformational Groups on how to create effective small groups. Pastors of growing churches know all too well the old adage of there being two sides to every […]
God’s Presence Is My Good
Psalm 73 is a well-known psalm of lament in which Asaph, the leader of David’s choirs, wrestles with the reality that evil sometimes prospers, that those who are not God’s people seem to do well in life. After bemoaning the temporary glory of the wicked, Asaph confesses that His thinking was foolish, that his knowledge […]