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God Rocks #5: Safety When the World’s Exploding

October 14, 2014 by

Part of the new series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!

 

People are afraid right now in a way I’ve rarely seen. I notice it in talking with friends and reading Facebook and emails.

Frankly people have good reason to be scared.

Islamic terrorists are beheading people and threatening to attack us. Ebola is spreading into our country. Extreme weather is producing droughts in certain areas and floods in others.

 

Photo by Bryan Burke

Photo by Bryan Burke

 

 

Friends have said, “I’m not traveling anywhere. I’m staying close to home. I don’t even go out much. And no way am I getting me on an airplane.”

 

Yet, when we’re filled with fear it impacts all of our life. We simply stop living when we give into it. And then we lose. [Read more…]

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God Rocks #2: Peace When You Hurt

October 2, 2014 by

Part of the new series “God Rocks:  101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!”  Stories of the awesome blessings and promises God gives us each day.  I hope it encourages you today!

 

We stood singing during the worship service Sunday morning. In front of me were two twenty-something women deep in conversation. As the rest of us sang they continued to talk only occasionally glancing up at the worship leaders.

I thought, “What you can’t just stop talking long enough to at least worship? Why did you bother to come? Why not just go out for a cup of coffee instead of distracting everyone else?”

Photo by Andrey

Photo by Andrey

My thought vibes evidently didn’t connect because they never even paused.

I grew more aggravated.

Then I realized I wasn’t worshiping because I was focusing on them. That irritated me even more. [Read more…]

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Escaping Futility for Fruitfulness

September 18, 2014 by

Do you ever see the news and wonder, “How could people do that? How could they be so cruel and callous?”

How often have you been hurt and thought, “Why would they do that? How could they not care?”

Yet, how many times have I hurt someone without realizing it that caused them to wonder the same thing? How many times have I been so focused on my needs that I hurt someone without even thinking about it or worse not caring?

 

How many times have I lived in the darkness and brought it to someone else? [Read more…]

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Launching the Amazing Life

September 16, 2014 by

I was sitting next to an acquaintance at a banquet when the conversation weirdly drifted onto spiritual topics. In response he said, “I’d like to get together for dinner sometime. In college I made a choice to become an atheist and I love to debate religion.”

I have other “friends” on Facebook who write what I call “drive-by shooting” posts about religion from their atheist viewpoint.

 

None of these are really interested in discussing. They’re only interested in arguing.

And frankly I don’t have the time or desire.

I’ve also observed that often those same ones carry a real anger that leaves them restless and unhappy. Sometimes they may even be successful by the world’s standards but there’s a hole deep inside. [Read more…]

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How to Take Back Control of Your Thoughts

September 11, 2014 by

Mental health is the new growth industry of our society.

Psychotherapists, Marriage and Family counselors, personal therapists are graduated from universities by the thousands each year.

Prescription drugs to treat mental and emotional issues bring in billions annually.

And even the church has gotten involved. Many mega-churches have full time counseling departments to treat their church members.

 

What’s happened? [Read more…]

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Stability in the Storms

September 2, 2014 by

Why is it in churches we see nearly the same levels of divorce? Why the same percentage of people struggling with depression and other emotional issues? Why almost no difference in the levels of dysfunctional families?

 

Something is terribly wrong.

I think, in all honesty, the culture of our churches has bred a generation of spiritual infants.

Now, I’m not trying to be harsh so let me explain. [Read more…]

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Living Your A-Game

July 22, 2014 by

In college during the late 60’s and early 70’s I had no desire to change the world. Campus protesting burned and I was happy to help drain a keg at the frat house on Friday afternoons.

I planned to go into the family business. Live the American dream. Make some money. Do fun stuff.

Yet something inside was missing. As I faced graduation I increasingly felt uneasy about where I was going. I had it made yet somehow felt empty. I really couldn’t understand it but I also couldn’t shake it. [Read more…]

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Changed from the Inside Out

June 26, 2014 by

My mind is spinning right now. Just in my circle of acquaintances, I have one friend going through a divorce because his wife is addicted to prescription drugs and alcohol.

Another friend divorced because her husband has uncontrollable anger issues.

Another struggles with his wife’s mood swings which are surprising and volatile.

And these are normal middle class adults with good jobs living in the suburbs.

Some even go to church.

Yet, their lives at times have been hell. [Read more…]

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What to do When You Have One of Those Days

June 19, 2014 by

Yesterday was one of those days. You know the kind.

Stressed helping one of our children wrestle through a major issue.

Near constant pressure trying to provide care for my wife’s elderly parents.

Then a computer went down at my office.

And to top it off when I tried to post on my blog the software glitched. Yikes! [Read more…]

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How to Make a Church Irrelevant

June 10, 2014 by

I believe most of us want spiritual connection.  We wonder at times about the spiritual and would like to connect with God if he’s real.

So perhaps we attend a church.  But what do we often find?

If the church is large we remain anonymous.  No one knows we attended or cares.

If the church is smaller we feel like we accidentally walked in on a wedding and we don’t know anyone.  People treat us courteously but they all know we don’t belong. [Read more…]

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