Wednesday's Word

It’s not too hard to find things to complain about. Listen to the conversations around you - there’s a lot of grumbling going on! At the same time, we can find a multitude of reasons for which to be thankful. Tomorrow (in America), our society sets aside a day to count our blessings and give thanks. I’m deeply persuaded that our decision to complain or to give thanks is rooted in the way we view ourselves. Follow the logic here: If I assume that I’m a good... Read More

I don’t think you could pray more dangerous words than these three: “Thy Kingdom Come.” If we truly understood what we were saying, we would probably pause before inviting such upheaval through our door. This often overused and underestimated petition can only be answered by turning our lives upside down and inside out. Let’s be honest. We don’t always greet God’s kingdom with delight. We want certain things in life, and we not only want them, but we... Read More

We live in a broken world. Have you noticed? Food decays Gossip destroys reputations Bitterness grows like a cancer Governments are corrupt Lust and greed control hearts People take what isn’t theirs and inflict violence Spouses act hatefully toward the one they vowed to love Children are abused instead of protected Drugs addict and destroy People slowly die of starvation or suddenly from disease The list could go on and on. Does this make you... Read More

At the center of every philosophy or religion are two questions that change everything: What is people's biggest, most abiding problem? How will this problem ever get solved? The Christian worldview is very clear and very simple about the first: the answer is sin. The Bible directs us to look inside ourselves and not outside. Scripture documents and describes the chaos that ensues when we try to set up our little claustrophobic kingdoms of one, rather than living for the... Read More

Have you ever experienced something in life so painful that you wanted to shut down and never turn back on? Have you ever felt so crushed that, at least for the moment, you couldn’t imagine ever getting back up? For me, it was the physical trauma that accompanied my kidney damage. I will never be able to adequately describe it to you. This was pain like I never knew existed. My body went into spasms, and the pain was focused on my groin area where it felt as if someone had stuck me... Read More

I long to be strong full of vitality energy to spare wide awake brain in gear muscles ready motivation engaged purposed possessed raring to go unstoppable zeal a competitor a completer the envy of others no frailties no worries no regrets But you have rendered me weak unable to be what I once was ever again not in this life the old me gone I cannot live as I once did I cannot do what I once did I cannot press through what you have chosen for me I cannot escape I... Read More

It was a surprise visit from an unwelcome visitor. I didn’t know that on October 19, 2014, Mr. Hardship would knock on my door, barge his way in, and take residence in the most intimate rooms of my life. And I didn’t have any idea how his presence would fundamentally change so many things in my life. I watched Mr. Hardship go from room to room, rearranging everything. I wondered what life would be like if and when he finally left. If I could have, I would have evicted this... Read More

You never just suffer the thing that you’re suffering, but you always also suffer the way that you’re suffering that thing. Let me explain what I mean by that phrase, through the experience of my sickness. In 2014, I went to see a doctor with what felt like minor symptoms. Before I knew what was happening, they admitted me to the hospital for what became an excruciatingly painful ten-day stay. The abbreviated story is that I was in acute kidney failure, and had I waited... Read More

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:21-24) I am a mass of contradictions; I don’t want to be, but I am. I preach a gospel of peace, but my life isn’t... Read More

The older you get, the more you move from being an astronaut to an archaeologist. When you’re young, you excitedly launch to worlds unknown. You have all the significant decisions of life before you. It’s a time of exploration and discovery. It’s a time to go where you’ve never been and do what you’ve never done. In your younger days, you spend much of your time assessing your potential and considering opportunities. But as you get older, you begin to look... Read More