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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.” Timanth

It’s not been a good year. We started to realize this last March. By April, I was reading articles and memes about turning the calendar back to 2019. As we moved into the fall, those articles and memes morphed into jumping forward to 2021. We pretend that the pandemic, political divide, quarantines, race issues, job losses, anger, shutdowns, and hatred, are the fault of a calendar year. So logically, let’s blame it all on 2020. And now that Christmas is over, let’s just get t

Whether or not COVID has changed things for you this year, you are likely reading this because you are spending the whole holiday, or part of it, alone. Sometimes being alone is a welcomed break. But often, it is not. Usually on Christmas, it’s not.I have a wife and extended family, with kids and grandkids, so it may appear that I don’t know what it’s like to feel and be alone on Christmas. But I do.I was that kid in Bible College that had nowhere to go for Christmas. Just so

Some of you are really stressed out. Especially after this year, and maybe every year at this time.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 the 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 in

While some of you absolutely love this time of year, others of you dread it. For some, it brings back hurting memories and it feels physically and emotionally draining. With 2020 being what it was, maybe this year it feels even worse. But whether you love the season or hate it, it is here nonetheless. So why not make Christmas special? Change those memories and transform the drain into a boost. You can make the most of Christmas and turn it into a delight. Some have lost love

The first pastor that I considered my pastor, was someone who had gone through tremendous hardship in life. His first wife and three little boys died in a car accident, in the car he was driving. He was the sole survivor, and his physical recovery took a year.So in my early Christian life, when I was going through a very hard time, and he sat down to talk to me about how to handle adversity, I was willing to listen. He had been through it, but was also one of the most joy fi

If you use The Bridge Bible reading plan, as I do, you read Proverbs 20:3 today, “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel” (NIV). I thought, how rare this is for people in general, and even Christians in particular. We are so quick to argue, even to insert ourselves into other people’s arguments. There is a way of thinking out there that implies not doing so is being a coward. “You’ve got to stand up for yourself!” “Stand up for what you bel

As we’ve been studying Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Mark, we’ve learned that Jesus openly proclaimed this world is not really ours, and that for his followers, our home is in heaven. But living in this world, we still have responsibilities and should fulfill them faithfully. That includes, as temporal citizens of the United States, voting for candidates we believe would bless the people best, and even engaging in discourse regarding the issues (in person… NOT online !).Ho

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.”“A car or a house is only worth what someone is willing to give for it. A person is worth only as much as they give away.”How much are you worth?I’ve known a lot of poor people who are worth more than the super rich. You are worth a lot when you give a lot.You see, your value is not based on how talented you are, how smart you are, how many

In a few days, the election will be over. You might be reading this and feeling anxiety over who will be the victor, or even if we will have a clear election winner.It seems that there is more anxiety over this election than I’ve sensed in years’ past. Four years ago, there was a huge divide in people’s emotional reaction to the result, because most of us were certain of the outcome, even though we wound up being wrong. And we immediately felt the huge divide in the country,

Sorry for the misleading title picture. I’m not talking about Thursday’s presidential debate. I think there’s mixed reviews on how good that was. But I am convinced that debates can be and should be healthy. If you are surrounded only by people who always agree with you, then you don’t even know what you really believe. If everyone agrees with you, you’ve never been challenged. It’s not until you have to articulate your views and thought process that leads to those views, bef

Our most recent family addition is Remy Iris, our daughter and son-in-law’s little girl. She’s 3 months old and she loves to smile. In fact, I often catch her staring at me (or whoever else is nearby), waiting for me to look at her. As soon as I make eye contact, she breaks into a big grin. It’s as though she craves human interaction and knows that she can get it by smiling.Babies learn this very early in life. They get added attention and affection when they smile (they get