Five minutes. That's all it took for her to change my life. It was what she did and said to start her first-period English class, early in the Fall of my senior year of high school. Before I explain, I need to set the stage for that life-altering incident, which...

What did one of us say, or what happened, that caused anger to boil over between us? Why did we spit verbal venom on one another that day? Why did the argument degenerate into a fist fight? Honestly, I can't remember why.   Scene 1   Spring 1968 Dennis, my...

   Scene 1    6-7 Years Ago It happened out of the blue, as I strolled through the den. An unseen force suddenly penetrated my chest cavity, got a vise-grip on my heart, and squeezed forcibly until tears began flooding down my cheeks. No, it wasn’t a heart...

A man and his ever-nagging wife took a vacation to Jerusalem. While they were there, the wife died. The undertaker told the husband, "You can have her buried here in the Holy Land for only $150, or we can ship her body back to the States for $5,000." The husband...

It is important to know what God's Word does not teach, as well as what it does teach. The late pastor Ron Dunn quipped, “Many people believe the Bible because they do not know what it says.” He referred to misconceptions some folks have about what it does and does...

You know how it is when a particular lure is irresistible. You keep thinking about it until your head throbs. The longer you wait, the more your passion for it intensifies. You cannot rest until you capitulate, and give in. That's what happened to Seth Thomas on...

Centuries ago, before rifles and more modern weapons were utilized on battlefields, a commander whose troops won the battle met with the leader of the defeated army, who had come to surrender. The vanquished foe walked up to the victor and offered him his hand. The...

Today, I decided not to reinvent the wheel. You have heard, and probably have used, that cliché. It means, "Don't try something new when what you already have is working well." Or, "Why take the time and energy to create something when you can't improve on what...

"But" is a conjunction with impact. It precedes a contrary opinion, or introduces a stark contrast to the first part of a sentence. The term qualifies, or completely negates, what precedes it. Want examples? *"I know I promised we'd get away this weekend, honey,...

When you see or hear the word "theology," what pops into your mind? A few Christians associate it with academic study, thinking of a seminary's systematic theology classes and the thick tomes students must read. Some church members equate theology with ivory-tower...

Special Note to the reader: From my archives, I'm hoisting an article I wrote a few years ago, before  I launched my blog on depression and faith. So most of you have not read it. There is no direct correlation with the theme of my blog, except for the fact that...

How did your day start? I hope it began better than my day did on Wednesday, April 24. When I arrived at my office at Columbia International University, I plopped down on the couch and muttered, "My life is a mess!" Due to a succession of sleep-deprived nights, I...