It’s one of my 100 Recovery Rules. Addiction cripples, but secrets kill. Dr. Alex Lickerman, the author of The Undefeated Mind, writes, “Deciding to not reveal a hurtful secret is usually easy while deciding to reveal it is hard. But if it’s a secret you’re withholding from someone with whom you’re intimate, it represents a…
Over the last 50 years, a few baseball players have stood out as the very best pure hitters of this era. I’m talking about Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, and Pete Rose. But don’t forget about George Brett, who came the closest to hitting .400 of any hitter since Ted Williams. Brett was known for his…
What if God said something 16 times? I bet you would take notice. Well, he did. Sixteen times, Jesus said something like this: “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” Here’s just one example: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to…
“And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger” (Luke 2:7). Today, across the globe, hundreds of millions of us will sing this familiar refrain: “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.”…
Tomorrow is the Big Day, defined by four things: food, football, family, and faith. Especially faith. Seven hundred years before the first Christmas, the prophet said this: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be…
If you want to know what kind of person you will be tomorrow, ask yourself one question. What am I feeding my mind today? The apostle advised, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk” (1 Peter 2:2). You can’t control what goes on around you or what happens to you. But you do get a…
How do you measure yourself? What does “success” look like? Let me suggest that most of us have the wrong scoreboard. You are not defined by your addiction or your abilities. Nor are you defined by your past or your profession; your hobby or your house. You are not the sum total of your mind,…
In 1982, someone in the Chicago area laced Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules with potassium cyanide, resulting in seven deaths. The person who did this was never found. As for the seven individuals who took the Tylenol pills, each of them did so with complete confidence that the pills would accomplish their intended goal of pain relief.…
“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Andrew Murray was a brilliant pastor and theologian. He has much to say about how God uses our most difficult moments to…
My dad had a briefcase with his initials engraved on the top of it, in rather large letters: LID. Dad’s name was Lester Irvin Denison. He didn’t care for his name, but he loved his initials. You gotta love that! I mean, how many people do you know who have “LID” engraved on the top…