Do you have a photo of your spouse, significant other, or children as your phone background, eager to show them off at the first opportunity to anyone and everyone? What about your driver’s license photo? Do you delightedly show it to others? Pass it around at parties? Copy it to your online profile? Or…
Hunting Down the Spiders
My family recently moved to a new home on the south side of Nashville. “New” is probably a little misleading, but what can I say? It’s new to us. Actually, it’s a 1955 ranch-style home on a corner lot in a great neighborhood. I like the corner lot because that means more people can…
Hostage Negotiation
Figure out what’s holding you back. It was September 1973 in Stockholm, Sweden. A convicted felon left prison after serving a portion of his sentence. Think of it like probation. He was getting a second chance at life, a chance to prove he could reenter society and do it right this time. It didn’t…
Dear Twentysomethings…
Imagine Sunday night youth group at a big suburban church. We’re in the gym and its “Parent’s Night.” The high schoolers, some of them reluctantly, have agreed to let their parents join them in the hopes of building a little understanding between generations. We’ve done a few icebreakers and no one has died of embarrassment…
I Thought God Picked the Wrong Person
Our tastes of Heaven sometimes require a trip to hell — preferably roundtrip. As a food and fitness speaker and author, I’ve spoken to a wide variety of audiences and have always felt like I was doing God’s work. But when I was asked to present to a group of a few hundred recovering…
Say Goodbye to The Pit of Family Pileups
Pileups happen. Especially in families. That’s what happened to mine. That’s what happened to Keith’s. That’s the nature of family. The ties are so close that the same cord that hangs one tangles all. They say alcoholism is a family disease, but it’s not the only one. Both of my girls experienced some second-hand effects from…
We Can’t, but God Can
“It’s just me, and I ain’t much.” We’d been talking for well into an hour before she said the words. We’d worked our way through two cups of machine- brewed, hospital-waiting-room coffee. Hers with sweetener, mine with powdered creamer. Small of stature she was. No makeup, hair matted. Her T-shirt was loose fitting and crumpled.…
The Trouble with Pleasures
The Life of Christ Speaks of Sacramentality If the life of Christ shows us anything, it’s that the Stuff of Earth is meant to point us to the substance of Heaven. How? Consider the way He came eating and drinking. Jesus’ best buddy, John, set out to record the life of Christ, miracles and all,…
After the Collapse
Editor’s Note: In the past few years, we’ve unfortunately witnessed quite a large number of men succumb to very public failures . . . from leaders in business, politics, entertainment and yes—even the church. But there is still great hope for these men, even after the collapse. Nate Larkin is living proof of that.…
The Giant of Addiction Must Fall
We’re an addicted generation. We don’t think of ourselves as addicted, but we are. That’s a tough blanket to spread, isn’t it? Mention the word addicted and the tone in a room instantly changes. Our minds connect the word to the “big” addictions only, such as alcoholism, drug abuse, or porn. We think of…
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