I read a good modern “fable” this week. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He...

I am fascinated about how things get named.  Here’s one good example.  Apparently during the 15th century, English hunters were given the job to assign names to groups of animals. Those names were quite whimsical. A group of parrots were...

About the time of the Korean War, George Lerner designed a new toy for American kids. This new toy was very inexpensive and utilized a real potato for the body. It came with several small plastic pieces that would enhance the “potato doll.” There...

Here is some sad news to start your day with. According to the Council on Foreign Relations Global Conflict Tracker, right now, there are some 27 worldwide conflicts raging. These wars may be a state of armed conflict between different countries or...

I recently read an article about how some modern Jewish people honor the Sabbath. This particular article was focused on how people can “work around” some of those laws. For example, there is a Shabbat rule that does not allow the turning on or off...

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...