Spiritual Growth

Devotional-style readings to help you grow and develop wisdom as a spouse, parent, friend, leader, and most importantly, as a Jesus-follower.
Why Holiness Matters Why Holiness Matters
Theology

Why Holiness Matters

There’s not much talk about holiness these days. We make everything relative. Movies get rated “G”, “PG”, “PG 13”, “R”, “NR” and “X”, but none of this even touches on holiness. There aren’t degrees of…

God and Cars God and Cars
Theology

God and Cars

Every time I go to church or listen to a preacher offer the plan of salvation, I think “Does everyone get the bigger picture here? Why do we even need a savior from our sins?”…

Telling on Yourself (Part II) Telling on Yourself (Part II)
Community

Telling on Yourself (Part II)

In my last post, I talked about confession – the idea of telling on yourself. Almost everyone agrees that coming out with your screwups is huge and healthy. The Catholic Church encourages anonymous confessions of…

Telling on Yourself Telling on Yourself
Community

Telling on Yourself

“Tattletale, tattletale, hang your britches on a nail,” we chanted at whoever ran and told on us. No one liked being ratted out, whether it was for throwing rocks or stealing M&Ms. It took guts…

Red Man in a Blue World Red Man in a Blue World
Influence In The World

Red Man in a Blue World

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:…

The Striking Hour The Striking Hour
Decision-Making

The Striking Hour

When you hear profound stuff, you want to share it with others. I often quote my friend John Richie in these posts, but when he shared his decision-making paradigm with me, I said “This is…

Holy Ground Holy Ground
Theology

Holy Ground

What do Acts 7:33, Exodus 3:5 and Joshua 5:15 have in common? In each, the Lord says … “Take off your shoes. The place where you’re standing is holy ground!” Taking off your shoes is…

Half a Year – Gone! Half a Year – Gone!
Priorities

Half a Year – Gone!

Check your calendar. The 4th of July is tomorrow. That means June 30th has come and gone. Half of 2014 is over. Just like that. About this time last year, Belle Beth Cooper¹ wrote an…

Bitter or Better? Bitter or Better?
Grace

Bitter or Better?

One of the most gentle people I know has a customer who hates him. He’s made up his mind and there’s no changing it. My friend goes the extra mile and then 7 more for…

The Happy Husband Pledge The Happy Husband Pledge
Marriage

The Happy Husband Pledge

Okay guys, this one’s NOT for you. We’ve seen enough comments to convince us that more than a few wives read this column. And since “The Happy Wife Pledge” hit guys so hard, we figured…