On this date in history something interesting happened. On January 5, 1950, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hit #1 on the Billboard Pop Charts. The song would sell over 8 million copies and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1985. What is so interesting about that? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas…
John Mark Comer wrote, in Live No Lies, “Addiction is a kind of prolonged suicide by pleasure.” Let that sink in – prolonged suicide by pleasure. Another way to say it is that addiction will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more…
A man bought a talking monkey from the pet shop. That night he took the monkey to a local bar and bet everyone $10 that his monkey could talk. But the monkey never spoke a word. When he got home, the monkey chattered up a storm. So the next day, the man took the monkey…
On August 27, 2020, Hurricane Laura hit Cameron, Louisiana, with winds of 150 mph. The storm left $19.1 billion in damages and took 81 lives. Yet, despite the catastrophic damage, a few things were left unscathed. A plastic trash can remained unmoved outside a local business. A single crepe myrtle tree stood proudly among the…
There’s just something about this day that calls for new beginnings. The psalmist proclaimed, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (Psalm 98:1). Did you catch the musical selection? A new song. I like old songs. I…
If you wake up to a new year tomorrow, it will only be for one reason. God isn’t through with you yet. Perhaps your recovery did not progress in 2021 as much as you had hoped. Perhaps you find yourself mired in chronic relapse. Perhaps you are feeling frustrated, manipulated, repudiated, stagnated, and agitated. All…
Let me offer you a challenging thought from Oswald Chambers: “God wants to do with you what he has never done with anyone else.” Paul told young Timothy, “Put these abilities to work; throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone may notice your improvement and progress” (1 Timothy 4:15). This is the glorious truth.…
There are a lot of important holidays this time of year. Perhaps you’ve heard of some of them: Pearl Harbor Day (Dec. 7), Winter Solstice (Dec. 21), Christmas (Dec. 25), New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31), and New Year’s Day (Jan. 1). Not to be outdone, December 29 is “Still Need to Do Day.” This is…
When I completed the manuscript for one of my books a couple of years ago, I sent it to a new editor. A few weeks later, she returned my manuscript, citing at least 100 mistakes. My response? I found a new editor. We all want to be edited – up to a point. I can…
Here’s a great trivia question for our older readers. What was the first nationally broadcast television program for children? Answer: “Howdy Doody,” which premiered on this date, December 27, 1947. This iconic NBC show always began with these words: “Say kids, what time is it?” The kids would answer, “It’s Howdy Doody time.” For its…