The Danger of Self-Deceit
My old software company created software for the publishing industry. During a visit with one of our Christian publishers, an executive asked my advice about how he should counsel an employee who was …
When Your Desires Are Thwarted
Spiritual retreats have significantly impacted my life. During a retreat, something shifts in my heart, like a ratchet rotates it one way and it won’t twist back. In a concentrated time of prayer and …
The Long Neglected Spiritual Gift
In many Christian circles there is controversy over the use (or even the existence) of many spiritual gifts. But almost everyone agrees that one gift has been overlooked for too long, and fortunately …
Desires of The Heart
I’ve used my Scripture Meditation Plan for decades. It begins with a psalm of the day, and last Thursday’s was Psalm 37. It is best known for this one sentence: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he …
What Can I Learn from Cancer?
Four weeks ago, my doctor told me that recent tests indicate a high likelihood I have kidney cancer. The tests were the result of an appointment I made because I felt run down. I thought I …
Finding Meaning in Suffering
Elisabeth Elliot is best known for being a widowed-missionary, speaker, adjunct professor, and author of over twenty books. She is least known for her one and only novel, No Graven Image. It’s a book …
Happy Further’s Day
I dislike Hallmark Holidays. Yet I love to give flowers to my wife on Valentine’s day, and I like to honor my parents on Mother’s and Father’s Day (after all, they put up with my innumerable character …
He Loves Me … He Loves Me Not
A friend of mine used to begin every prayer: “Father, I love you.” When I first heard him, I thought it was cool. After a couple years, something began to seem strange. I liked that he loved God, but …
Don’t Believe Your Own Headlines
In ninth grade, my brother Andy’s locker partner (the school drug supplier) had a bad trip on LSD. The bad trip continued in a small series of scary flashbacks, and Kevin asked Andy if God had …
What About That GTO?
When I grew up in Detroit, the population was over 1,200,000 people. I spent the next forty years living in Ann Arbor, population of about 120,000. Last summer, my wife and I moved to Brooklyn MI, …
Should Christians Fear Thinking?
Four years ago, I met with a pastor who talked about problems in his church. I asked him what he thought he should do. He said, “Watch it! ‘Thinking’ puts you into the devil’s territory.” (He really …
Trusting Doubt
My friend was recently fired from a job when he was blamed him for a mistake the boss had made. He said to me, “All is good.” The next week his wife totaled one of their two cars. My friend said, “I …