I experienced the greatest pain of my life in the loss of my wife. I have mourned and I have grieved. At times, I continue to mourn and grieve. Loss is not something you “get over.” Instead, you must learn to live with it. Of course, the most intense time of struggle occurs in the weeks …
Tag Archives: faith
Does God Want You To Take A Nap?
There are two things I do every day –no matter what: Wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night. It’s a simple pattern common to just about everyone. So simple that we hardly think about it. For some reason this morning I had a strange thought: sleep is a major form of …
Power of a Praying Pastor
In Mark 9:14-29, Christ’s disciples encounter a boy who has been plagued with demons. As a result, the boy was blind and mute. He frequently was thrown to the ground in violent fits. He would foam and the mouth and grind down his teeth. The demons would even cause him to fall into water and …
Practice Public Prayer
Growing up in Church, I remember questioning the need for public prayer. After all, didn’t Jesus tell us to go into our closets to pray? And what about His critique of the Pharisees who loved to stand and pray loudly for show? It turns out, however, that Jesus is not against public prayers –He’s simply …
It’s OK to Hide
My son can’t figure out how I can find always find him so quickly when we play hide and seek. One day it will occur to him that talking trash while he’s hiding isn’t such a good idea. Interestingly, the concept of hiding has been around at least as far back as Genesis chapter 3. …
Blind Faith?
The phrase, “blind faith,” is a contradiction in terms. So it seems appropriate that the Bible would show an example of true faith in the lives of two blind men. Matthew 20:29-34 describes what happened: And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting …
Salt, Pepper, Faith & Repentance
During one of my high school classes, we studied etiquette. My teacher always repeated the phrase “don’t divorce the salt and pepper.” Apparently, when someone asks for the salt, you are supposed to pass the pepper too. To do otherwise is considered rude (who knew?). It reminds me of what happens simultaneously at conversion: repentance …
Your Life Is About To Change
It seemed like I was living “the dream” for three months. From January through April of 2006, I was constantly hungry. I ate everything in sight –pizza, steak, ice cream, candy bars- you name it. Every night, I would wake up 5-6 times and raid the refrigerator. On one occasion I ate an entire chocolate …
I Don’t Vacation Well
Recently, I spent some time on vacation. I had been planning and looking forward to the getaway for months. Finally, I arrived. I checked into my hotel, grabbed my backpack full of books and headed to the pool. This is what I had been waiting for. Only, it wasn’t the way I had envisioned it. …
Underneath the Sand Castles
Ever hear a song for the millionth time and hear something new? Check out these lyrics: Waters rose as my doubts reigned My sand-castle faith, it slipped away Found myself standing on your grace It’d been there all the time The lyrics brought to mind my spiritual journey over the past four years. In so …