Four Ways We Resist God
The idea of resisting God may seem ridiculous at first. After all, how can something created resist its Creator? How can the lesser push back against the greater? But the testimony of Scripture and the stories of our lives attest to the fact that we do in fact resist God. I want to state it […]
The Terror (and Wonder) of Silence
What would you do if you had one hour or one day of total silence? No books, no music, no phones, no computers, no TV, no movies, no conversation, no stimulation — nothing but the inner whisperings of your soul? What would you do? What would you think? What would you feel? I know what I felt […]
Why Men Don’t Read — And Three Reasons They Need To
One of the constant conversations I have with men is the stress they feel at work. They are expected to do more on the job with less help. They feel pressured to email and text on weekends. Margins for rest erode. Time to re-create is pushed aside. And one of those things pushed aside is […]
Three Ways Reading Stories Can Heal The Soul
When I sit down and read a story, I am never quite sure what is going to happen. Near the end of one tale I read of a 13-year old boy, I broke into sobs. A 1000-page novel so entranced me the first time I read it that I decided to read it two more […]
The Most Watched Movie of All Time
Sometimes in my classes to students or adults, we would take up the topic of famous movies. I would first have them guess the most popular movies of all time. Then I would reveal the top four based on ticket sales adjusted for inflation: #1 and the winner goes to Gone With the Wind, #2 […]
Let Freedom Ring!
Today is staked out each year to celebrate the historic freedoms Americans share together. We do well to remember these freedoms of which many in human history have been deprived: the freedom of religion, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of the press, to name a few. Others are enshrined […]
What Social Media Can Never Do
One of the cultural discussions going on these days is about the pros and the cons of social media. But whatever you or I think about it, there is definitely one thing social media can never do. It’s the one thing that young men and women long for and often don’t know it. I saw […]
Finding Hope When All Seems Lost
What kinds of stories do we love to hear? In general, they are the ones in which the tension builds for the main character, escalating into what appears to be an impossible situation. We wonder, How will they every get out of this one? Whatever dream or hope was there appears crushed. This is the end — […]
Why Is This Happening To Me?
We have all watched tragic events descending unexpectedly on others. We have also traversed our own seasons of suffering and grief. Along with that, we witness loved ones succumbing to cancer or other illnesses. Then the nightly news hits us with senseless killings, especially those related to school shootings. The amount of pain accumulated by […]
Looking For Strength
What makes you feel strong? Where do you go to find strength to walk through life? Even though the strength issue is a huge question for men, women also need to feel strong in their own way. Both genders are looking and often not finding. When I taught high school, I watched young men try […]