The moments in my life that have been most sure and which have left me with the most peace and joy have been moments of defiance. The times when, even though no one else would get it, I knew the path I needed to take forward and I took it. These are my reckless moments. Those things that caused offense, consternation, even concern for my … Continue reading Defiance is a Christian Virtue
People working in impoverished areas around the world know that giving something to just one or a few individuals in a community creates intense conflict and resentment with those who did not receive anything. It doesn’t matter if those who received worked to earn it or if what was given is of little value. There seems to be something very deep in us that causes … Continue reading You Live Like Royalty!
Here’s a fact of life that many people have a hard time accepting: unless you were being physically manipulated or had a gun put to your head, you have never been forced to do anything. Not homework. Not driving on the right side of the road. Not take a job you hate or anything else. You may have felt like you were being forced to … Continue reading Own Your Choices
Forgiveness is absolutely essential, but sometimes our hurts are just so big. Here are some steps I have found useful in getting to a point of forgiveness. 1. Be realistic about your pain and what it is you are forgiving. If you are angry, be angry. If you are hurt, be hurt. Don’t pretend it’s not as bad as it is. If you are destroyed, … Continue reading Steps to Forgiveness
Being forgiven = Freedom Forgiving = Freedom Pick a day this week to deliberately forgive anything and everything that bugs you. Traffic? “I forgive you idiots for being in my way. I forgive the morons who designed the road system while under the influence of socialist drug addicts during their brutalist period. I forgive my brakes for screetching.” (FYI – Name calling is tolerated, but … Continue reading Practice Forgiveness Day!
Today, I want to share a bit more about a short story from my book The Upside Down World – A Book of Wisdom in Progress. In the story, I imagine a conversation between the resurrected Jesus and one of his disciples when the question, “what was it like being dead?” gets asked. From the story: As he stared into the fire in front of … Continue reading What to do when you wake up in hell
This is my third installment of a series of posts taking another look at the end of the Book of Job. (The other two are here and here.) Today I’m going to look at Chapters 40 and 41 together. The LORD said to Job: 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” 3 Then Job … Continue reading Book Of Job – Defense!
For the 3 of you who do not know, The Pioneer Woman is Ree Drummond, a homeschooling mother of 4 who lives with her husband on a working ranch. She has an enormously popular blog, is a talented photographer, cook and writer. She is beautiful and stylish and has great taste. Her kids and her house are comfortably imperfect, but are never so out of … Continue reading I am not the Pioneer Woman –
I hope he doesn’t mind me doing this, but I have a stepson who is going through some stuff right now. And while on my walk yesterday, I felt God put this message on my heart for him. I’d like to post it here as well because I know that there are so many young men who need to hear it. I realize that young … Continue reading A Letter to a Young Black Man
When you doubt what it true – that God exists and is good and people are basically good and life is important and good and that everything turns out OK in the end – that just means that you cannot concieve of a way to reconcile what you are seeing with all those things you’ve been told to believe in. Which is completely understandable given the lives most … Continue reading Hey You Doubters (ie Hey Human Beings!)
The Upside Down World 