As an NBA chaplain, I was blessed to meet Kobe Bryant, one of the all-time greats of professional basketball. Too often, people focus on how his life ended, in a plane crash on January 26, 2020, rather than how his life was lived. It is easy to forget what an incredible player Kobe Bryant was.…
The other day, I was watching my favorite old sitcom, Leave It to Beaver. The guest star was an actor named Wendell Holmes. He played the part of an alcoholic named Andy. Andy looked familiar to me, so I did some research. It turns out that Holmes appeared on four other episodes of Leave It…
“The tempter came to him” (Matthew 4:3). Temptation is a part of life, and it is especially a part of recovery. There is never a point when the temptations go away. If Jesus never moved beyond the point of temptation, we should not expect to, either. In fact, James (the brother of our Lord) talked…
Jesus took naps. “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion” (Mark 4:38). Our Lord clearly believed in rest. While a storm was tossing the very boat he was in, he responded with a yawn and a power nap. He didn’t sleep long, but he did sleep. Power naps can play an essential role…
“How old would you be if you didn’t know the day you were born?” – Toby Keith, Don’t Let the Old Man In Ponder that one for a bit. Don’t misunderstand me. Time takes its toll on all of us. Skin wrinkles. Metabolism slows. Muscles atrophy. If you don’t believe me, attend your next high…
Your recovery won’t go very far or deep if you only stay sober when it’s easy. It’s what you do when it’s hard that puts points on the board. Until you are tested – really tested – you won’t know if you are really sober. Jack Hayford had a lot to say about spiritual growth…
According to Parkinson’s Law, the amount of time it takes to complete a task depends on how much time is allotted. In other words, it will take two weeks to complete a project if you are given two weeks. If you are given four weeks to complete the same work, you will take four weeks.…
It happened on this day in history, in 1825. The Erie Canal opened. But it didn’t come easily. The 363-mile passage from the Hudson River at Albany to Lake Erie at Buffalo was the brainchild of several engineers who began meeting in the 1780s. Eventually talk became action. Sometimes, progress takes time. It took over…
Mark 4 tells the story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples. When the storm hit, the disciples panicked and called out to Jesus, who was asleep in the boat. After Jesus calmed the storm, we read a most intriguing verse. “They were terrified” (Mark 4:41). Notice, that they were terrified after the storm,…
I have driven to Mt. Evans in Colorado. It is the highest elevation of any highway in America. And along the road, there are countless road signs, warning of twisting roads, sudden drops, rock slides, and more. Imagine that, instead of posting all of the signs, they had no signs, but built a massive hospital…