In his fascinating book, Exactly What to Say, Phil M. Jones writes, “The real world tells us that people will work far harder to avoid a potential loss than they will to achieve a potential gain.” This is exactly why most addicts don’t seek help until they hit bottom. Their greater motivator is not the…
After retiring from coaching, John Wooden was asked what he missed most. I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t the games, trophies, or championships. In a word, Wooden said what he missed most was practice. As a chaplain for the Houston Rockets, I often sat on the sideline watching the players go through their pregame…
In 1969, Dr. Denton Cooley performed the world’s first successful heart transplant. His iconic career was marked by unmatched recognition over five decades of groundbreaking work. As an aside, he performed heart surgery on my Dad, saving his life in 1960. Dr. Cooley was not shy about his success. Once appearing as an expert witness…
A writer named David Redding told of his days growing up on a farm in Scotland. As a young boy, he was given a beautiful black puppy, which he named Teddy. Redding and Teddy were inseparable. When Redding had to go off to war, he was unable to return for more than two years. But…
“God is good, God is great, let us thank him for our food. Amen.” That was my first prayer. My family was not very religious, but we did pray before every meal. And that was our daily prayer. My brother and I took turns, day to day. But the prayer never changed. After I came…
Regrets. Let’s talk regrets. Psychologist Tom Gilovich says there is a difference between short-term and long-term regret. In the short term, we tend to regret the mistakes we’ve made. But in the long term? We regret the opportunities we’ve missed more than the mistakes we’ve made by a margin of 84 percent to 16 percent.…
I’m all about grace. We are saved by grace. We find recovery by grace. We must live by grace. To others, we must extend grace. So where do works come into the picture? Martin Luther provides the perfect answer: “God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does.” Jesus said our faith would…
Hall-of-Fame coach Chuck Knoll won 68 percent of his NFL games – with Terry Bradshaw as his quarterback. When anyone else played quarterback, Knoll only won 47 percent of his games. With Tom Brady at quarterback, Bill Belichick won 77 percent of the time; with other quarterbacks, just 48 percent. And Marv Levy won 66…
One of the keys to making good habits is to establish good routines. But once the routine becomes routine, you have to change it. This is known as the law of requisite variety. For example, if you always work out the same way, your workout will eventually lose its effectiveness, as your body adapts to…
Let’s turn to R.C. Sproul for some great insight today. He wrote, “To know that God knows everything about me and yet loves me is indeed my ultimate consolation.” God knows you intimately and loves you fully. Until you understand that, recovery will be a mirage, something you long for but cannot touch. God promises,…