CATEGORY: Christian Living in the Trenches
3 Things I’m Learning the Hard Way About Aging
Not everything we learn is fun or fascinating. Take lessons about growing older as an example. I didn’t register for the course on aging, but at 66, I daily take my front-row seat in the classroom. I don’t know if this will be on the test, but what follows are...
WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT…
It just doesn’t feel like Christmas this year. The joyful anticipation I once had prior to December 25 has evaporated as I get older. Maybe it’s because the kids are grown and I don’t get to observe their excitement any more.I tend to feel depressed the closer we...
FOUR THNGS I’D DO THE SAME
Turnabout is fair play, especially when I’m involved.My previous post cited “Four Things I’d Do Differently” as I looked back over the decades of my life. Here are four things I’ve done right in life or ministry. 1. I’ve worked at being creative with gifts I’ve...
4 THINGS I’D DO DIFFERENTLY
I'm not trying to browbeat myself through this post. The good Lord knows I've done too much of that in my lifetime. As a vocational Christian leader, husband, and father, I've done some things well and right. But now that I'm 66, I'm reflecting on my life and...
If i were a Christian College Freshman again…3 Things I’d do differently
I began my freshman year of college in the Jurassic era, 48 years ago this month. What if I could start all over, knowing what I know now about life and relationships? 1. I’d write my parents a letter soon after arriving on campus. No matter how imperfect or...
4 Reasons to “Preach to yourself”
What a privilege I’ve had to hear, in person, renown preachers: W. A. Criswell, John Stott, Stephen Olford, Stuart Briscoe, John MacArthur, Jr., Charles Swindoll, Erwin Lutzer, John Piper, Bruce Wilkerson, and George Murray, to name a few. But the value of their...
3 lessons on Worship
A worship chapel at Columbia International University stoked the embers in my heart’s fireplace. All music and responsive readings were framed around the Apostle’s Creed. As we sang “How Great Thou Art,” a faculty colleague who sat on the front row near an inside...
7 QUESTIONS FOR SPIRITUAL GIFT DISCOVERY
As a mentor, church staff member, or small group leader, one of your privileges is to add to the Lord’s labor force by helping others discover their spiritual gifts. What follows is a list of 7 questions you can use with a protégé, in a new members’ class, with a...
Where are the Tears?
I heard the question 30 years ago. To say I cannot forget it is the classic understatement. To this day the question and the remarks that preceded it roil around in my mind, goading me, instilling discomfort. David Mains was speaking at a Bible conference on the...
Whatever Happened To Shame?
Is a sense of shame always a bad thing? Many Bible teachers and counselors reply with a resounding “Yes!” There’s no place for shame in a Christian’s life, they insist. Thanks to forgiveness, and to our right standing with God owing to justification, we shouldn’t...
