Hearing God: Conversation Is the Point
When I was growing up, my dad taught me to sail our small Sunfish sailboat. We took month-long summer vacations. We always camped on lakes, so we …
growing in God's love
Is Sunday School Destroying Our Kids?
Several years ago I met with a woman distraught over her son’s rejection of Christianity. She said, “I did everything I could to raise him right. I …
Invitations to Intimacy with God
Most Sundays after church, my father invited us kids to critique his sermon. He disliked “Atta-boys” and he loathed a “Nice job!” He loved to observe …
As Long as We Both Shall Live
Last weekend my wife and I attended two weddings. Both couples used traditional vows: To have and to hold, from this day forward, For better and for …
Hearing God in Scripture
When I was twelve, my parents taught me to read a chapter of Proverbs a day. Proverbs has thirty-one chapters, so the day of the month determined …
It’s Time for an Execution
When I was a teenager, family and friends used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. (Now they just ask me when I will grow up). I always …
Seeing God Through His Metaphors
A friend once told me of a dark moment in his life, a time when he felt alone, frightened, and falling apart. He described his interior life like …
Common Sense or Nonsense?
The speaker was persuasive and moving. He asked us to hug a friend, stomp on the floor, and even pinch our own forearms. It didn’t hurt that he could …
Why Don’t We Think First? For a Change
A couple years ago I had an awful day in the middle of a horrible week in the midst of a bad month. A sniffle turned into post-nasal drip which turned …
The Self-Centeredness of Unselfishness
[Click here for an audio version of this post: The Self-Centeredness of Unselfishness.] Our romantic 30th anniversary trip to Italy began the same …
The Inner Captivity of We Who Are Free
We’ve been remade through a re-birth; we’ve become new creations and given new hearts; and the walls that imprisoned us have been bulldozed. And yet . …
Shame is Nothing to be Ashamed of
Popular, secular therapy proclaims the evils of shame. It’s wrong. Sure, shame is misused and abused, but deep-shame—deep shame alone—offers our only …