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Timanthes was an aspiring Greek artist in the Roman era. While studying under a well respected tutor, he was nearing completion of a major painting. Upon arriving in the morning, he found the canvas blotted out with paint. Enraged, he confronted his teacher who admitted destroying his work. He said, “You were spending so much time admiring what you had done that you were no longer improving. This was a great painting for some, but not for you. You can do much better.”Timanthe

My wife was talking with an older woman in our church who has been here for decades. The woman said, “Look at all these stains,” and pointed around the lobby carpeting. Linda acknowledged what was obvious (we have a hard time keeping up on it), and then the woman said, “And I love it!"“What?” my wife asked."It means this place is full of people and it’s being used. I remember when we didn’t have to clean the carpeting very often. I like it better this way."Proverbs 14:4 says,

My wife is the creative one. Every Christmas she brings to our family a new and often creative idea for focusing on Jesus at Christmas in a special way. We do many of the traditional Christmas practices. We decorate a tree (often the day after Thanksgiving), put up a some lights outside and greenery inside. We wrap a few and simple gifts and exchange them Christmas Eve. Because Christmas Eve is an all day work day for me, We have Christmas Eve brunch and later have light but

Some of you are really stressed out.Some of you admit it…and maybe your family, friends and coworkers are even tired of hearing about it. Some of you don’t really admit it. But your sleepless nights, stomach issues, and high blood pressure reveal what’s really going on.Stress is deadly. Mayo clinic claims that it is the chief cause of early onset heart disease, along with a myriad of other health issues. Stress inhibits our bodies' immune systems, complicates autoimmune disea

Paris two weeks ago and this week, San Bernardino. There is no doubt that terror is on the rise, and it is a threat in the United States.Husband and wife, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, both bent on religious Jihad and with terrorist ties, charged into a conference room filled with many of Syed’s co-workers celebrating Christmas. They were wearing body armor and brandishing military guns. They opened fire, killing fourteen and wounding another seventeen.The news in re

I love Thanksgiving and wish I could enjoy it, but the merchandisers want us thinking about Christmas.

They often are not.I recently visited a couple of locations where television programs are regularly taped for the History Channel. I was surprised both times. Television can be very deceiving. Some of it is due to the nature of camera lenses and TV screens, and the way our imagination fills in what is past the camera’s periphery. But a lot of it is intentional deception written into the director’s instructions to give a desired illusion. All-in-all, these two locations were e

I know that’s not what you really want. Everyone who has ever lived has had an internal desire to make a difference, to live in such a way that their lives will outlast their time on earth. And you’re no exception. But a lot of people go through life without making any kind of impact. In your heart, you don’t want that to happen. But here’s how it often does. No commitment is ever made to anything worthwhile, outside of their own consumption. So they never accomplish anything

Jim Carey said, “I think everyone should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

No, I’m not talking about Wednesday evening’s Republican primary debate. I think there’s mixed reviews on how good that was.

Two landscapers were working vigorously in a park. But a casual observer was confused by what he saw. One man was digging a hole, and the other man was filling it up. They were making good time, but what they were doing didn’t seem to make sense. So he asked them about it.

You know it’s a problem. You may not want to admit it to your spouse, boss, or siblings. But you are a critic. If there is something negative to be found, you find it. Whatever organization you are part of, work, school, even church, you always seem to know what “they” are doing wrong and you talk like you know better.And the truth is, you don’t really know better. If you were in their shoes, who knows what you’d really do. If you are completely honest with yourself, your "al

This weekend is marathon weekend and dozens of our church members are running. My wife and I ran the last two years and our daughter, Erica, is running this year. We are looking forward to heading downtown to cheer her and other friends on.Linda and I both learned some very valuable lessons the last two years when we ran. I’d like to share them with you here.• Most of us can do more than what we think. There was a time when conventional wisdom said that very few people on ea

There are a lot of things that I love about our church.I love the emphasis on accurate and practical Biblical teaching. I love the God-honoring and powerful worship music that is led by musicians who live out their faith. I love the stories of transformed lives I get to witness on almost a weekly basis. I love the family atmosphere––the genuine friendliness and sincere welcome that new people sense when they start attending. But more than anything, I love you…the people.One o

I mentioned to a friend of mine that a person I knew was worth millions. This friend responded, “You are only worth as much as you give."

Some people still say that social media is fading. I’ve heard naysayers claim that kids are no longer using Facebook.

It’s one of the most common questions I’m asked in counseling. From the guy floundering in his marriage, the woman struggling with her aging parents, people facing quandaries at work, or relationship issues with extended family, I’m asked all the time, “What does God want me to do?"I can’t always give specific answers. I can usually give Biblical principles that help make decisions and often, there are simple Bible answers. But most of the time, making good decisions flow fro

Isn’t it ironic that we celebrate “Labor Day” by taking the day off work?Actually, the holiday was birthed in the midst of a very necessary labor movement near the end of the nineteenth century. Back then, many Americans worked twelve hour shifts, seven days a week, eking out a barely survivable wage. Despite new laws regulating child labor, thousands of children as young as five and six worked in factories and mines with the fraction of pay that their low income adult counte

I tend to withhold my opinion in the midst of controversy. I wish most people would. If it’s political, I generally have an opinion, but sharing it publicly only detracts from my life’s mission to connect people with God. I don’t want those who would disagree with my opinions on minor issues to keep them from listening to me on the most important ones.But when it comes to life and death, that’s not a small matter.As Christians, sometimes it is the right thing to speak out on

Linda and I dropped off our third and last child for college yesterday. It’s a whole new chapter for us.Some of you enrolled your child in Kindergarten this week. It’s a whole new chapter for you.But for everyone with school age kids, and for every student reading this, it’s also a whole new chapter for you.The school year has begun. And even though New Year's Day is more than four months away, most of us think of the year in terms of the school year. School has begun. What’s