Over the years since I first read " The Road Less Traveled " by M. Scott Peck, Peck's comment about evil has stuck with me. His words pop into my head from time to time, and they have done so again lately. Peck wrote: "Evil is strangely ineffective as a social force. . .Evil backfires in the big picture of human evolution. For every soul it destroys - and there are many - it is instrumental in the salvation of others. Unwittingly, evil serves as a beacon to warn others away f

Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV) Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." I've read this verse many times and pondered how to apply it to my own life

“I’m just gonna take a saw to it,” I told my wife. My crummy hose, which was going to get thrown out anyway, seemed permanently stuck to the outdoor faucet. No matter how I twisted and sprayed and tried different tools, it wouldn’t budge. Sara was nervous about me sawing through the hard plastic connector. I don’t have a great track record on home repair projects, but I figured I could do it without disrupting the faucet threads. We deal with fear every day. Fear is a natural

To be a disciple of Jesus is to learn from Jesus and to try to be like Jesus. As I look at Jesus, I am struck by his compassion. First, to even come to earth in human form to live among us and to save us from our sins was an act filled with compassion. Also, reading the Gospels, the word "compassion" keeps popping up in descriptions of Jesus. Some examples: Mark 1:41 - A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Fil

I was recently asked about my sources of wisdom - a good question for us all to ponder. I quickly thought of my spiritual mothers. That's how I label four women who had a profound impact on my life. Their wisdom shines through me. We need such wisdom, as indicated in Proverbs 24: 3-6 (NIV): By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;   through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. The wise prevail through great power, a

This is a reprint of a post from Jan. 31, 2024 When I have visited Europe, especially France, I have been struck by how the residents shop for groceries more frequently than we do in the United States. Americans tend to stock up during weekly or even monthly grocery trips, but the French tend to buy daily. This is because of the desire for fresh products, small spaces with small refrigerators, the social aspects of shopping, and the habit of bringing home the daily baguette.

This is a reprint of a post from December 2022. Humans crave power. These days, it's easy to point to political or business leaders who want to wield power, but all of us want power, control, options, to some degree. Jesus' potential political power is what drew the wise men on a long journey to his side. That story is told in Matthew 2: 1-18. At key moments in the story, we read about deceit, maneuvering and violence. When the magi ask King Herod for directions to the new ki

When I served in youth ministry, one of my principles was that I would never ask a youth to do something I wouldn't do. That's why I would sit on the floor with them instead of sitting in a chair like other adults. When we played a summer camp game involving throwing a squid around (yes, really), I was the referee who held the squid first (and prayed over it with the youth to thank God for its life). When it was time to clean up the youth space, I would grab a broom, sweep a

Mary the mother of Jesus does not have much to say in the gospels. But her longest quotation packs a punch, because it overturns our thinking about God. When pregnant Mary visits her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit wells up within Mary, and she breaks into a praise song called the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55, NIV). “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generation

Generation after generation, we find something "wrong" with the next generation coming up. But a new survey of Gen Z does worry me - especially in terms of spirituality. New research from the Survey Center on American Life suggests the Gen Z generation (13-28 years old) is very individualistic. One result is Gen Z'ers are prone to viewing morality and ethics through an individual lens rather than in a social or community context. Among the many observations are that Gen Z ten

Carrollton (TX) police officer Shawn Henderson showed up at Parkland Memorial Hospital full of rage. His best friend, a SWAT officer, had been shot while executing a search warrant. Henderson's gut reaction was the craving for vengeance against the shooter. The SWAT team leader explained to Henderson that after firing his weapon and striking the officer, the shooter immediately threw out his weapon and lifted his hands in surrender. He was cuffed and taken to jail without inc

Have you heard a sermon on gratitude yet in this Thanksgiving season? I've heard two so far, with more to come! I wanted to present a different way to think about gratitude, so I turned to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth's excellent book, "Choosing Gratitude." Wolgemuth sets up several comparisons between gratitude and ingratitude. I thought we could use these as a self-quiz to understand where we are focused on gratitude and where we stumble into ingratitude. A grateful person is a

Faith and fear cannot co-exist. Yet while we claim to be faithful, we cling to our fears, worries, and anxieties. It's hard to experience...

A favored saying these days is, "But God." It's an expression of faith indicating our belief that God prevails and provides, no matter...

One of the issues in focusing on living a seven-day practical faith is that we can get caught up in what we produce. It seems like our...

(Photo belongs to NASA Science) Did you know there is a narrow gap within Saturn's rings? The Keeler Divide, a mere 25 miles wide, exists...

Every now and then, an author writes something that speaks directly to me (I hope I can do the same for you). This week's example comes...

Matthew 5:14,16 "Y ou are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden...In the same way, let your light shine before...

Before a horse is useful as a partner, it must be broken. An unbroken horse does not know how to carry a rider or weight on its back and...

A sports adage is that you have to play through pain. Injury is one thing, but pain is different. Every player feels pain. The ones that...