I have the same routine every morning. I step outside on my lanai, and a zillion ducks come rushing up from the pond out back, like a battalion of soldiers storming the beach at Normandy. They know what’s coming, because I’ve been doing the same thing, very consistently, for five years. I reach into my…
There is not enough space to write all the supremely wonderful things Jesus did during the three years of his public ministry. But if we could identify the top ten statements of what Jesus did, this one would rise to the top: “He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Jesus loved his disciples through…
The Holy Spirit exhausted the alphabet in describing Jesus. He was the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the Christ and the Creator, the Daystar of David’s seed. He’s the Everlasting God, Friend of friends, and God of grace. He’s the Helper to the helpless and the Incarnate One, the Just…
Do you remember Popeye the Sailor Man? He was a popular comic book hero who later had his own TV show. I watched it every Saturday morning as a kid. Popeye had tremendous forearms, and always had a pipe in his mouth. He faced his archrival, Bluto, at every turn. Bluto had every advantage over…
Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Speaking at the ESPYS, he revealed the secret to his success: “Rest at the end, not in the middle.” In recovery, too many of us rest in the middle. We take a break from groups and other recovery work when we aren’t done…
Before A.G. Spalding was a sporting goods magnate, he was a great baseball player. He was arguably the first great pitcher, winning a remarkable 252 games over a seven-year career, including 52 wins in one season. But it was one move that by which Spalding made his lasting mark. A.G. Spalding was the first baseball…
A few years ago, Tamekia Reece wrote an article for Prevention. Reece identified ten habits of people who lived to be 100. At the top of the list was one thing. Mix and mingle. She wrote, “People live longer and happier lives if they make new friends and keep old ones.” Another study conducted in…
Do you ever ask yourself, “Where did the time go?” We have answers. Over the course of our lives, on average, we spend twenty-six years sleeping and another seven years trying to sleep. We spend thirteen years at work, eight years watching TV, four years eating, three years on social media, three years on vacation,…
Two months ago, a Texas woman was attacked by a snake and a hawk at the same time. Peggy Jones, from Silsbee, was mowing her yard when a snake fell from the sky and wrapped itself around her leg. Then the hawk, which has presumably dropped the snake from above, swooped down and began pecking…
You’ll never be a winner until you risk being a loser. Stephen McCranie said, “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” I love the way gymnast gold medalist Simone Biles said it: “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” Taking…