If church attendance only counted those who really want to be there, I suspect attendance wouldn’t be too good on most Sundays. When I was a pastor, I remember one guy who literally told me, “Preacher, just so ya know, I don’t wanna be here!” Contrast that with the plea of the psalmist, who asked,…
Life was never intended to be lived alone. Every great task calls for teamwork, community, and collaboration. We are simply wired for connection. Consider these two examples from history. In 1933, British explorer Frank Smythe attempted to climb Mt. Everest alone. He became so convinced that someone else was with him on the climb that…
Homan Walsh contributed to the construction of the first suspension bridge over the Niagara River, when he was just a young boy. From the Canadian side, he flew his kite across to the American side where the kite string was fastened to a tree on the shore. Then they took a little cord and they…
One of the dangers for American Christians is that we create an American form of Christianity. By that I mean, we assume that God wants us all to live in comfort. In the U.S., that’s how we define success – by the size of our house, the car we drive, and how many toys we…
Do you talk to yourself? There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’d be alarmed if you start hearing responses. I heard about a study that found that 96 percent of us talk to ourselves. Talking to yourself is actually biblical. In the 42nd Psalm, the Sons of Korah talked to themselves. They asked themselves the…
One of the most difficult lessons for me to learn in recovery was that nothing I had ever done caught God off guard. Nor did my addictive behaviors stunt God’s ability to bless me and use me going forward. I had to learn that nothing can really disqualify a person who was never qualified in…
There is a common saying you hear in recovery groups. “The measure we gave was the measure we got back.” And it’s true. One of the best things you can do to improve your recovery is to help someone else improve theirs. A recent study from Columbia University confirms the power of helping others. Over…
Recovery is less about how we respond in the moment and more about how we prepare for the moment. If you wait until the trigger hits to figure out how to respond, you will eventually fail. Sure, there are some situations that sneak up on us. But virtually every test you face will be something…
“We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.” – John McKay Former Head Coach, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Success starts by doing one thing well. Another former coach gives us good insight into this principle. Texas A&M basketball coach Shelby Metcalf had to suspend a player from his team due…
There are a lot of misunderstood passages in the Bible. One of those is Luke 11:1. Jesus gave us what we call The Lord’s Prayer in response to the disciples’ inquiry. So what was it that they asked the Master? Their request was not that Jesus would teach them how to pray. They said, “Lord,…