On New Years Eve I watched a few hundred local runners brave frigid temperatures to take on a 4 mile course around our local Reeds Lake. They called it their Resolution Run. As we watched them warming up I wondered what “Resolution Run” meant for them. I say “them” because Di and I watched it […]
Every once in a while I find myself with thoughts that cause me to wonder if someone has been praying for me. Sometimes it’s waking up with a song that seems to have come out of nowhere. On other occasions, I find myself with an awareness of God’s goodness or presence that seems to have […]
Over the months I’ve talked every once in a while about how 12 Step thinking and process echoes basics of true spirituality. Even after the specific language of the Bible has been removed to make the Steps “accessible” to those who come with an aversion to the “religion” of their past, real wisdom remains. Step […]
What does trust look like when we can’t explain our trouble, or see beyond it? Listening to others as they try to show faith in crisis can be confusing. Some say they are “believing God” for a job, restored health, a reconciled marriage, or the return of a prodigal. Others say reliance on Him means […]
If the Bible is full of “studies in contrast” and “truth in tension” rather than “self-contradictions and discrepancies,” another example is what the Scriptures variously say about forgiveness. Some passages indicate that one mark of a follower of Christ is to forgive those who harm us (Matt 6:14-15; Col 3:13). Other texts make it clear […]
Sometimes I wonder what people who don’t believe in Christ must think when they see how many different denominations show up on the church page of the newspaper. Best case might be, “Wow, looks like a fight, maybe I ought to see what their issues are.” Worst case might be that they stay away thinking, […]
Although I’m interested in baseball only enough to have watched a couple innings of World Series Game One, I read an article yesterday in the New York Times about Yankee short stop, Derek Jeter, that caught my attention. Sports writer, Jack Curry, described some of the mental characteristics that have made Jeter (team captain since […]
Communication has to be one of the most wonderfully difficult challenges in life. Whether among friends, family, or co-workers, conversation can be hard work with unpredictable and problematic outcomes. Even here in cyberspace with all of its self-protective anonymity, who will deny that, depending on how much we’ve been willing to say, we can– from […]
Our “Good Conversation” has surfaced a couple of points that I think are very important. None of us want our moral advocacy, political involvement, or lack of political involvement to indicate a lack of concern for others. In fact, we probably would all like to believe that we support political action or inaction based on […]
Lately, I’ve asked a few husbands I know whether they make a practice of telling their wives what to do. The question usually gets a smile that acknowledges something I suspect. Most of us know that the apostle Paul calls a husband the head of his wife and urges wives to submit to their husbands. […]
