Picture a treasure chest. Not a small box that might hold jewelry on a girl’s nightstand — a large treasure chest, larger than any suitcase you own, larger than any suitcase you’ve ever seen. Picture a massive oak treasure chest, like pirates might have used, with large iron hinges and a huge clasp. The size…
Your Participation
After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them… His master commended him: “Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.” — Matthew 25:19-21 The Message You are created to accomplish a work worthy of God; it is one of your deepest…
Time for a Fresh Start
Is anything too hard for the Lord? — Genesis 18:14 It’s a brand-new year. It’s the time of year we start thinking about making changes. This year, rather than writing a quick list of resolutions that we’ll likely forget before February, maybe we should take a different approach. This is a good time for…
Restoration Year: Training by Engaging
Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. — James 1:22 NASB You will be tested. Like Jesus’ desert trial, the enemy comes probing at your weak spots. But this trains you. It’s how you develop a resolute heart. You make no agreements with whatever the temptation or accusation…
Why I Stopped Saying ‘I Will Pray For You’
I’ve come to the place where I have had to stop telling people, “I’ll pray for you.” I simply know that despite my good intentions — and these promises are almost always spoken with good intent — I know that nine times out of ten I just don’t remember to follow through. Not until maybe…
Every Man Questions “Do I Have The Strength It Takes?”
Why don’t men play the man? Why don’t they offer their strength to a world desperately in need of it? For two simple reasons: we doubt very much that we have any real strength to offer, and we’re pretty certain that if we did offer what we have it wouldn’t be enough. Something has gone wrong and we know…
Restoration: Holiness
HOLINESS MEANS HEALING Fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. — Romans 12:2 The Message It seems that much of what Christians believe they are called to is a cluster of activities that include regular church attendance, Bible study, giving, and attending the annual retreat. Now — what is all this…
Wild at Heart: No More Mr. Nice Guy
Adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness, is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of man. The masculine heart needs a place where nothing is prefabricated, modular, nonfat, zip lock, franchised, on-line, microwavable. Where there are no deadlines, cell phones, or committee meetings. Where there is room for the soul. Where,…
The Stages of the Masculine Journey
If I were to sketch out for you the masculine journey in broad strokes, I believe this is how it unfolds, or better, how it was meant to unfold: Boyhood to Cowboy to Warrior to Lover to King to Sage. All in the course of about eighty years or so, give or take a…
Grabbing the Lifeline of Hope
We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God… — Hebrews 6:18-19 The Message I am haunted by this passage. The promised hope.…