It feels like in today’s culture that most of us are marinating our minds in negativity.At times it feels like a country filled with Eeyores from the Winnie the Pooh stories. Ourthoughts are powerful and they end up helping to create the person we become. The Scripture teaches us that “A cheerful heart is good medicine. . . “(Proverbs 17:22). Overcoming negativity is crucial to our spiritual,...

     One of the saddest parts of my job as a minister over the last three decades is occasionally watching people leave church or even the faith. The Scripture sometimestalks about those who “turn or fall away” (Hebrews 3:12; 6:4-6). In 1 Timothy the apostle Paul talks about those who “will abandon the faith” (4:1).      Every person who leaves church or moves from identifying as a Christian to no...

     We are often impressed with those who finish first but sometimes the greatest stories are those who finish last. Bob Wieland once took ninety-eight hours to complete the New York City Marathon in 1986 and one hundred and seventy-three hours to finish the Los Angeles marathon in 2003. He finished last in both races with the slowest times ever recorded. The rest of the story is that Bob lost bo...

     Justice is elusive in this life. Pedophiles escape arrest because so often highly traumatized children do not tell anyone for decades. The woman who molested me as a little boy never was prosecuted. So often adult sexual assault and rape go unreported or unprosecuted because it is often one person’s word against another. In the “Christian” deep south for decades some innocent African American...

     I think most of us hate conflict. Whether it is at work, with a neighbor or even in our own marriages and families. We all prefer peace. And yet so often it is elusive. Currently we are in an election season which feels like the opposite of peace. The Apostle Paul gives us some advice about peace; he says . . . Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those w...