Stumbling Over the Truth

   When I was just a kid, I have to admit that I was afraid of the dark.  One of the responsibilities I had in our home growing up was to put the garbage cans out for the trash pickup.  Unfortunately, I would put off the simple task until the very last moment.  It was usually the night before trash would be picked up that my mom would scold me about getting the trash out and I would, begrudgingly, gather it up and take it from the backyard out to the curb.  The problem was that I had waited until it was dark outside.  The side of the house that I had to use to accomplish my task was unlit and very dark.  My imagination would always get the best of me.   For those of you who are laughing at me right now, we all know that you had your fears too.  Though we don't like to admit it, we are all from time to time controlled by fear.  After all, we live in a very scary world. We live in a very scary world.     In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a familiar story about a man who is going o

     I know you are probably thinking, "Oh no, another Thanksgiving blog post."  It is true that this time of year causes us to be mindful of the things that we are most thankful for, but that really isn't the theme for this blog post.        Over the last several months, I have been able to experience some of the most trying and humbling times that I have ever had to experience in my life.  Yes, I wrote, "I have been able to experience" because looking back now, I am grateful for these times.  I can't really say that I was ecstatic as I was going through them, but I now see that they were beneficial to my development.      In Psalm 79, the psalmist writes a prayer out of deep discouragement.  The Babylonians had come into to Israel, killed many of God's people, laid waste to Jerusalem and the Temple of God.  It is in deep despair that he asks God, "How long?"       How long is a question that I find myself often asking.  I don't know

Nine Reasons Why Modern Marriage isn’t Working | Dave Willis

     I was watching Fox News Channel's "The Five" the other day and they had a segment in which each one of the contributors was asked what advice they would give the Class of 2018.  Each of them responded in their own unique ways with some form of advice (one was a quote from the Lego Batman Movie).  As a teacher and pastor, I am often confronted with opportunities to speak, so I began to think about what I would tell the Class of 2018.  After some time of contemplating this question, I found that I had way too many things to say just to leave them with one thing. I believe that the Class of 2018 has potential to change what seems to be unchangeable, to right the wrongs of those who have come before them.            It was early this morning that I finally found that one thing that I wish to let this year's seniors know.  In fact, this truth that I now feel compelled to share with the class of 2018 is so important that I believe it is something everyone sh

. . .the story of my life is that I am not that great, not that special, and I have messed up way more than I really would like anyone to know.  But today, that's okay because of the fact that God loves me. . .       Secrets, everybody has them.  For most of us, we want to make sure those secrets remain secrets.  That is unless you are Tony Starke and you are just dying to tell everyone, "I am Iron Man."  For everyone else, we like a little mystery about who we are and what we do (or have done).  The other night my wife and I left a restaurant and were approached by a young man who was searching for something to eat.  The first words out of his mouth were "I just got out of prison and I am starving. . . "  We obliged him with some food, but I really wanted to tell him that he may want to change his approach line.  Telling someone that you just got out of prison may not be ideal before you ask them for help.        Social media has really enhanced the d

The choice to isolate is a selfish tendency that is not really what God created us for.      It's Monday.  The weekend went by all too fast and now I have those, "It's back to the grind Blues."  Can you relate?  The alarm goes off and you just want to hit the snooze bar (over and over again).  You think about calling into work, hoping that your boss didn't see your social media pictures from the weekend that had you hanging out with friends at the beach or park.  Honestly, you just want to be left alone.  Maybe you are going through a crisis or a state of depression which just screams "everyone leave me alone."        We all, at one time or another, experience that desire to be alone--separated from the rest of the world.  Most of these situations find us in an unhealthy state of mind--tired, worn out, physically drained, mentally exhausted, and emotionally on edge.  We are fragile and vulnerable to making poor choices.  Choices like lashing out

The other morning I was hungry and decided to stop by Dunkin' Doughnuts for coffee and a toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese.  As I pulled in looked over to the drive thru and noticed the cars were stacked 4-5 deep and they didn't look like they were going anywhere.  So, I decided to go inside (I am not a huge drive thru fan).  Once inside I notice that all of the employees had long, sad faces . . .  the kind you get after working a double shift.  Even the manager looked like she didn't want to be there.  Not one person had a smile on their face.  It caused me to think about how the end of their day would look, since this was only 6:55 a.m.   So often we forget that as Christ-followers we have every reason to smile.  Psalm 47 encourages us to get excited about the life that we have because God is AWESOME!  It calls us to clap our hands (and I'm not thinking that quite little golf clap) and shout for joy.  When was the last time you got up out of bed and ga

Mondays have a way a making me feel tired!  They can be one of the hardest days of the week because they begin the typical work week cycle.  The beginning of the long struggle of the week.  Somehow Saturday and Sunday flew by, and now you are looking at the workload for the week thinking, where did my weekend go.  The Monday morning blues can cause you to feel drained and just exhausted before the work day even begins. Maybe this isn't just a Monday problem.  Maybe yours is a Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or . . . well you get the idea . . . problem.  Sometimes we just lack energy to go forward.  I think that is why Energizer batteries has really pushed that bunny as their advertising symbol.  Don't we all wish we could get some batteries to keep on going and going and going.  Products like the 5-hour energy drink market to the culture that people are run down and if you could just drink their product you would have all the energy to go strong. Having divine power

     Back when my wife and I were first married, Dunkin' Doughnuts had an advertisement that showed one of their employees getting up in the early hours of the morning--every morning.  He would be half asleep, but he would repeat, "Time to make the doughnuts," every time.  It was very humorous and got my wife and I to repeat that slogan as we would wander out of bed to start our day.  It was those morning blahs of a daily grind that we were referring to when we said, "time to make the doughnuts."  But haven't you ever felt like you are stuck in a rut?  Maybe it's your job or your relationships or you church or your life that have you feeling like you are caught in routine.  Possibly it is something that really has you enslaved that you really don't want anyone knowing about. Don't get used to slavery!      The Israelites had this problem.  They had grown accustomed to being slaves in Egypt.  Joseph had saved them and the known world fro

      Not being able to see can be frustrating and definitely painful.   Have you ever stubbed your toe on something in the dark because you couldn't see?  That can be so painful!  Not seeing what is coming can also be dangerous.        " A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth ." -Proverbs 17:24      When I was in high school, my dad and I got blind sided by another car on our way home from school.  I can remember the car rolling over and over as my head and arm broke out sections of glass.  We finally came to rest with the passenger side of the vehicle (my side) flat on the ground.  It was a few minutes later that rescuers rocked the car back to an upright position and an emergency crew cut me out of the wreck.  They placed me on a stretcher and into an ambulance where I was quickly taken to a hospital emergency room.  They patched me back up and told me that I would feel the impact of the accident more in

     Almost anything you need you ca find these days on the internet.  Between Amazon, Google, Walmart.com, and e-Bay a person can have most anything delivered within a short amount of time.  As a society, we have so many resources at our finger tips, and just one click items can be shipped to your front door.  Countless volumes of information stand ready at our finger tips, which causes me to wonder how anyone could fail.  But the truth is that all these advantages don't equate to success.  You can't order success online.        Success isn't something to obtain or arrive at.  It isn't a destination, it's a derivative of the journey.  And what is even more frustrating is the the road of success is often paved with disappointments and setbacks that serve to extend the road not to block it.  Failure often leads us closer to success.  David put it this way in Psalm 37:23-24,     "The steps [path] of a good man are ordered [directed] by the Lord, and He del

     Yesterday I came home from work to find that my kitchen light wasn't working.  No big deal, except for the fact that today is my oldest son's birthday.  My wife was intending to make him a birthday cake, but with no light it was going to be challenging.  So we decided that the thing to do was to try new light bulbs and if that didn't work, replace the fixture.  This meant a trip to our local Lowes to get what was needed.  The unique light bulbs took a while to find and then we selected (after a few moments of debating price, color, size, etc.) a new light fixture and went home.        The easy and more inexpensive solution would have been the replacement light bulbs, but when we changed them out the light still did not work.  This meant changing out the fixture.  Though the box of the new light fixture assured me that this was a simple task that could be completed by one person but this proved to be not as simple.  After some sweat, frustration, and perseverance w

     Why?  A simple question yet complex question that keeps parents on their toes and leaders up late at night.  Why?  It is the question that perplexes organizations and confounds individuals, yet it is vitally important that we all ask it often.        Motivational checks are a good idea and "why" is the tool to get the job done.  We have all heard stories of people who do things without a reason, but it is the reason why that truly keeps us moving forward towards the unimaginable goals of life.  "Why" gives us the edge, the laser focus that keeps us committed to achieving the dreams others believe to be out of reach.  Why is what keeps marriages together when it would be easy to quit.  Why makes New Year's resolutions last past February 1st.  Why helps you put both feet on the floor on a Monday morning to face another day at work.  Why is also that tool that causes us to evaluate the motives behind what we do. Motivational checks are a good idea and

     Influence,  the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something is an interesting conversation.  We chide the young about the importance of avoiding bad influence, encourage the inexperienced to learn how to exert influence, and lean on the mature to gain the impact from their influence.  Influence is all around us, which leads us to analyze, scrutinize and emphasize the how, why, when, and who.   It is the "who" of influence that I wish to talk about.        Recently I read a story (unverified) about Albrecht Durer, a German artist of the late 1400's to early 1500's.  According to the story, Durer grew up in a poor but large family of eighteen children of which he was the third child.  Early in life he displayed talent in artistry.  Because of this a close friend of his offered to work in the mines for Durer to pay for him to be able to attend school for his art.  In the first couple of years Durer learned much an

     Have you ever had one of those days where you wished you had never gotten out of bed?  Those days come for everyone (like that is encouraging), but how we make it through those days is totally up to each of us.  John Maxwell tells us in his book, The Winning Attitude , that "our attitude determines our altitude."  You know he is right, but sometimes you want to ask guys like him, "Have you been through a day like mine?".  I can't really answer that question, but a guy named David helps us with our struggles.        David wasn't always king and things weren't always easy for him.  Sure we all know about his Goliath situation, but if you looked into David's life it would seem like a mess.  He was anointed to be king in his teen years, but had to wait for God to remove Saul.  In the mean time, Saul made David's life difficult to say the least.  He was the most wanted man in his home country, as well as in Philistine.  Because of this he had