“Try again. Try again. Fail better.”- Samuel Beckett Pastor Tom Eggebrecht writes in Chapter 9 (“Help People” of Fully and Creatively Alive that the way to improve any relationship involves honoring the other person’s dreams. Therefore, first determine what the other person wants to do, become, or achieve. Next, help them do it. Tom strongly […]
“Resilience . . . the grace to remain strong after going through something that almost breaks you.”- Ron Luce “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”- Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) Ron Luce, president and founder of Teen Mania Ministries, wrote Resilience in response to a plane crash that took the lives of four […]
As June Hunt concludes Chapter 11 of How to Forgive, she discusses the faith factor as it relates to dealing with suffering. Ms. Hunt states that whether we succeed in turning blame and bitterness into healing and hope “depends on our willingness to exercise our faith in God, to trust Him, even when we must […]
“Be . . . as innocent as doves.”- Matthew 10:16 “What the world needs is not simply isolated outward deeds but transformed character from within.”- John Ortberg John Ortberg concludes Chapter 6 of All the Places to Go by discussing the final dimension of wholehearted threshold crossing: “Be . . . innocent as doves.” Pastor […]
“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”- Colossians 2:6-7 “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”- Confucius My freshman year at Luther High School South […]
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”- John 5:6 Mark Batterson begins Chapter 11 (“Self-Fulfilling Prophecies”) of The Grave Robber by reporting that, in November of 2004, a group of elite medical researchers met at […]
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”- Matthew 10:29-31 “My concern is not whether God is on our side; […]
In Chapter 6 (“One Nudge”) of The Grave Robber, Mark Batterson observes that in most instances we miss the miracle that is right at our fingertips because we’re too close to the situation. Most miracles are initiated by a nudge, most effectively from someone with whom we have a relationship of trust. Yet, it’s easier to […]
“. . . you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”- Colossians 3:9-10 “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.”- C. S. Lewis Opened in 1925, the Crystal […]
“We cannot see God’s plan when we can see only our pain.”- Sara Horn Sara Horn concludes Chapter 2 of How Can I Possibly Forgive? by stating that when Joseph chose to let go of the difficult circumstances that brought him to Egypt, he was able to see God’s plan. Joseph grabbed on and trusted […]
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. “- Isaiah 53:6 (NIV) “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”- Henry David Thoreau During my pre-downsizing, elementary teaching days at Ebenezer and […]
Today Sara Horn concludes her study of the Seven Habits of Highly Forgiving People in Chapter 2 of How Can I Possibly Forgive?. 4. A highly forgiving person lives by the Golden Rule. By reminding ourselves that we fail God daily and need His forgiveness, we become cognizant of our need to offer that same […]