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“It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” (Proverbs 20:3 NIV).

In Christian circles, we are told that we should glorify God. But what does that mean?

It's Mother’s Day weekend. But if the day’s founder, Anna Jarvis, were here, she wouldn’t celebrate it. We know that because, though it was her work and influence that put the special day on the map, and even brought it to National Holiday status, after the commercialization set in, she began to loathe what it became.

I used to watch The Brady Bunch as a kid and longed to be in a family like that. They had parents who calmly led. They had each other when things were going well and not so well. They sometimes fought, but always came together. I’d almost forget that it was a TV show and wish that I could be in that family.

Is follower of Jesus the first thing that comes to mind when people think of me?

Philosopher Walter Kaufmann wrote a book ironically titled The Faith of a Heretic. After explaining our cosmic insignificance, he concluded: “What I want to do and would advise others to do is to make the most of life: put into it all you have got, and live, and, if possible, die with some measure of nobility.”

There is good reason we get afraid. Fear protects us from harm.

When I was 9, I heard about an all star game at the end of little league season and I wanted to make that team more than anything. But I wasn’t that good. So when players were picked and I wasn’t, I couldn’t accept it.

I was a 20-year-old college student driving down an interstate highway. I didn’t have any money, but I did have an AMC Matador (AMC is no longer around). Traveling at about 65mph, the hood latch gave way. The hood popped up and slammed back into my windshield, creating a spiderweb crack and covering my view of everything. It was just like the movie Tommy Boy. Talk about scary!

This past week I’ve tried to educate myself into the causes behind this terrible war in Ukraine. The history behind this is quite complicated.

This was my third trek to Israel. My last two trips I led tours. They were wonderful excursions, but I had more responsibility in leading and directing.

I stood looking at this pile of rocks. But it obviously was not just a pile of rocks. These were first century carved marble blocks, hundreds of pounds each, that had been transported over a hundred miles to the top of a mountain citadel.