Stumbling Over the Truth

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it," said Atticus Finch, the fictional lawyer in To Kill A Mockingbird .  For true dialogue to occur, we must cut through those stereotypes and genuinely consider the other person's point of view.  Perhaps this is par of what Jesus meant when He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Christians fail to communicate to others because we ignore basic principles in relationships.  When we make condescending judgments, or proclaim lofty words that don't translate into action, or simply speak without first listening, we fail to love.  I really doubt God keeps track of how many arguments we win, but God may indeed keep track of how well we love . God has a large stake in how we love.  It was the "new commandment" that Jesus left to His followers.  John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, stated in his writing that thro...

     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 lo...

. . .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.   ...

     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. ...

      Hate .  What an ugly word!  But so much of our world today is filled with it.  I am facing an awkward dilemma about honesty and hate.  Before I go any farther, I want to be fair to those in my past who have been mentors, teachers, and had any kind of impact.  I deeply appreciate all that was taught and modeled for me.  Also, I do not hold any of those people responsible for what I am about to confess.  This is not a lay blame on someone else rant.        With that said, I must come clean and admit to a life that has been filled with hate.  Some where, some how though I know I didn't go to any instructional classes or seminars on this, I grew up learning to hate.  By now you have to be wondering, "Hate what?"  I don't really know if I could finish the answer to that question in one blog.  It certainly would take a great deal of time to state all of the possibilities.      ...

I can remember my father telling me that boys are easier to rear than girls. Perhaps for the first ten to twelve years of my son's life I would have agreed. My son is 16, nearing 17 years of age. Lately, I find myself wondering what happened? Mark Twain, I believe, said that when a boy reaches his teen years you should put him in a barrel and feed him through a hole in it, and when he turns 16 you should plug up the hole. There are times that I wonder if I shouldn't have followed Mr. Twain's idea. In retrospect, the issues that I have in dealing with my son come from inadequacies on my parenting. That is what is so frustrating about teens! Young children lull us into believing that everything is wonderful, so all we have to do is sit back and watch them grow. Then, as if out of some horror story, that sweet, fun loving child turns into a teen laden with all kinds of issues. What is hard for parents to face is the responsibility in the shaping of our children when t...

Yesterday I had a heart attack!!! It wasn't my first, though it may be the first time that I have acknowledged one. After years of suffering from reoccurring heart attacks, I have finally come to realize that this deep pain I am experiencing is a result of when I allow my heart to stray from God. Winston Churchill said, "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened." This statement is definitely true of my own life. For years I have felt the pains of my sins but never really associated them with a heart issue. Like a physical heart attack we should recognize the true pains in our spiritual heart as we ignore a loving God. More than my pain though is the thought of the pain that God experiences in His heart as I fail to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Relativism has quietly crept into everyday thinking and is one of the pain killers Satan uses to help numb us from our h...