Recently I have been spending some time in the Sermon of the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Putting it mildly, it is a challenging portion of scripture. And then I started reading Skye Jethani’s little book, What if Jesus was Serious? (I highly recommend...

I love the short story of how a child tried to describe an elevator. She said, “I got into this little room and the upstairs came down.” That phrase has stuck in my mind, “...the upstairs came down.” Isn’t it an apt description of the blessings we...

In Galatians 6, we are told to “carry each other’s burdens’ (vs. 2) and then in verse 5 we are instructed that “each one should carry his own load.” It can be confusing. Are we on our own to haul around the daily burdens of life or are we supposed...

I had reason recently to review some of the principles found in John Ortberg’s great book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get out of the Boat. Using the story found in Matthew 14 where Peter joins Jesus as He walked on the water, Ortberg...

The author John Ortberg tells an interesting story about how failure is tied to learning. Apparently a ceramics teacher divided his class into two separate groups. One group (we will call them Group A) was going to be graded on the basis of the...

The children of Israel enjoyed peace and prosperity in Egypt as long as Joseph was on the scene. But Exodus 1:8 tells us that there was a new king and “he did not know about Joseph.” Circumstances changed drastically. In fact, in order to control...

David made a profound statement at the beginning of Psalm 60. He flat out declares, “You have made your people see hard things...” And as difficult as it is to embrace those words, I know them to be true. From time to time, bordered by His intense...

I read about an executive headhunter who specializes in finding executives for major firms in the US. He remarked, “When I get an executive that I’m trying to hire for someone else, I like to disarm them. I offer him a drink, take my coat off,...

Recently, I have had the privilege to help a young friend learn to drive. One day, as we sat at a traffic light, I shared with her my most important driving insight. I told her she had to develop the “one-two-three” mentality for entering an...

I have been doing a “deep dive” into the book of Psalms this summer and ran across this troubling thought in Ps. 60:3: “you (God) has shown your people desperate times.” Another translation states, “God has made His people see hard times.” But it...

A few months back, I was able to purchase the television set of my dreams. It covers almost an entire wall in the living room.  It has unbelievable color; background scenes are gorgeous. The sound is perfect. And the focus is amazing, I can...

Relationships are so important and they need to be communicated. There is definitely kindness and energy expressed in our words, written or spoken. There is a wonderful surge in our emotions as we receive a gift. But there is incredible power in...