Wounds

Wounds outlast the disease. The Bible promises, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).  Notice the two-step process here: The wound represents the effects of the disease, not the disease itself. So when someone tells me, “I’m healed of my sexual addiction,” my response is, “Great! You’re halfway home!” It is…

Highlighter

From the Sermon on the Mount we read these words: “Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, nor the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). Jesus said that even “the least stroke of the pen” from God’s Word matters. The…

Surrounded by Wolves

There were two hunters who were each offered $5,000 for every wolf they could capture and deliver alive. One night, when they were on their way up in the mountains, they woke up to discover that they were surrounded by 50 wolves with glaring eyes and bared teeth. One man punched his buddy and said,…

Yesterday

On this date in 1965, the Beatles’ hit song, Yesterday, reached #1 on the charts, a position it held for the next four weeks. Yesterday would be voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of musical experts across the globe.  Written by Paul McCartney, Yesterday was a ballad written about…

Take a Breath

Take a breath. Few things are more mundane than breathing, yet few things are more miraculous. With every breath, we inhale half a liter of air, which contains 12.5 sextillion molecules. That’s more molecules than all the sand on all the seashores on planet Earth, including sandcastles. Take another breath. The surface area of your…

Copernican Revolution

“When you move past self, life is simpler and less stressful.” (Tom Rath, It’s Not About You) In 1543, the Polish polymath Nicolaus Copernicus published a book that identified the sun as the center of our solar system. Until that point, it was widely assumed that everything in the universe revolved around the earth. Copernicus’s…

Better than Grace or Truth

Grace is great, but it’s not enough. Truth is wonderful, but it, too, is not enough. Let me explain. Grace minus truth is all heart and no head. Truth without grace is all head and no heart. Grace says, “I’ll forgive you, no matter what.” Truth says, “I’ll be honest with you, no matter what.”…

Windshield Wipers

Mary Elizabeth Anderson was born on February 19, 1866, just after the conclusion of the Civil War. There was nothing about her life to suggest that Mary would become an eventual member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  But Mary came up with a fresh idea. That idea was birthed on a trip on…

A Game You Can’t Win

During the days of King Saul, the Israelites sang a song that got Saul’s goat: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7).  Every time that song played on Spotify, it provoked a spirit of jealousy within Saul. “They credit David with tens of thousands and me with only…

A Necessary Piece

“Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined” (Daniel 11:35). Your stumbling ways never catch God off guard. In fact, he will use them – every time. The Hebrew word used for “refined,” in our verse, means to complete or perfect. God will make you better, stronger, healthier, and more sober…