Is your God dead?
Early church reformer Martin Luther sometimes fell into periods of depression that could last for days. During one of these periods, his wife, Katie, decided to dress in black mourning clothes. Luther finally noticed and asked, “Are you going to a funeral?” She replied, “No, but since you act as though God is dead, I […]
The (second) longest sentence in the Bible
The second-longest sentence in the Bible is one of my favorites. The longest sentence, technically, is the genealogy of Jesus from Luke chapter 3, a run-on sentence of “the son of . . . the son of . . . the son of . . .” that spans 16 verses and includes dozens of names […]
On second thought . . .
Can you relate to second-guessing? Do you doubt your decisions habitually? If you do, then you have some work to do on strengthening your trust in God. Here are some confidence-building tips to help get you started: More often than not, second-guessed conclusions are not based on solid facts. It’s guessing—anticipating an outcome that’s usually […]
God hates abuse
A man came to my office and confessed to me that he had been abusive with his girlfriend. After expressing my grave concern for his behavior, I told the man what I would tell any seemingly repentant sinner—Jesus forgives you. Although there would be consequences for his actions, Jesus had taken away his eternal condemnation. […]
Today is the day
Usually joy comes pretty easily to me. My go-to passage in the Bible mentions it twice. But then 2020 came along, and I had to put much more thought and effort into being joyful. See, I kept looking ahead and thinking joy would come as soon as I got what I wanted. Once we got […]
How to help the abused (& abusive)
Many years ago, a woman came into my office and confessed to me that her husband was hurting her and her kids physically and verbally. What was more, the husband was also a member of our church, which meant that within days I would sit with him in the same room and address the same […]
A Valentine from Jesus
Valentine’s Day . . . bleh! My first experience with love’s missed arrow happened in high school. In the cafeteria, a Valentine’s booth took floral orders for almost a week before the big event. Valentine’s Day revealed the chosen few proudly carrying wilting flowers all day long. Ugh, the shame of empty hands. For good […]
Cell phone vs. God’s Word
Do you know how many times a day the average person picks up his or her cell phone to check messages, scores, or other addicting games with the word candy in them? 110 times. Compare that to the number of times a person picks up his or her Bible daily. (Insert good old-fashioned Christian guilt […]