Running back Rashaan Salaam won the Heisman Trophy in 1994, as the best player in college football. But in his rookie season with the Chicago Bears, Salaam fumbled the ball nine times. To prevent future fumbles, the coaches fixed a tether to the football during practice. When he ran with the ball, someone ran behind…
God didn’t call you to be successful, but he did call you to be fruitful. And if you are already fruitful, God’s plan for your life is that you become more fruitful. Jesus was pretty clear: “Every branch that bears fruit he prunes so it will be more fruitful” (John 15:2). How, exactly, do we…
At any given time, I am leading 10-20 men through my 90-day recovery program. Why 90 days? Because the science says so. For alcohol abusers, the cravings peak at about 60 days. For meth users, it is 90 days. While there is no available data on sexual addiction, most behavioral addictions mirror substance addictions, so…
On July 8, I rode out a hurricane with a hurricane buddy I’ve known for nearly 40 years. We’ve done this many times. This time, it was Hurricane Beryl, which slammed into the Texas coast with gusts over 100 miles per hour. We had the forethought to drive 100 miles from his home near Houston…
The choice to engage an addiction is a decision that is centered in the executive portion of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex. Once we indulge, the experience delivers a powerful stimulus to the nucleus accumbens, a cluster of nerve cells below the cerebral cortex, which releases a flood of dopamine. The neurotransmitter dopamine…
Fear makes false assumptions. Remember the night when the disciples were in the boat with Jesus during a major storm? Some of them were professional fishermen, accustomed to the challenges of the open water, yet they were all scared out of their minds. Finding Jesus asleep, they awoke him with these words: “Teacher, don’t you…
It happens a lot. Your wife has left town. Or you left town. In either case, you find yourself alone. Just you and your phone. What could possibly go wrong? If you find yourself alone for a few days, you need a plan. The Bible says, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself from…
At the end of World War II, a submarine came back to dock at Newport News, Virginia. As it came into port, something terrible happened, and the submarine began to sink. The Coast Guard was immediately dispatched to save the crew, and divers swam down to the submarine. As they approached it, they heard a…
Two characters in the Old Testament served as perfect examples of two competing forces: fear and faith. Those men were King Saul and his son Jonathan. Saul let fear dictate his life, while Jonathan was driven by faith. Jonathan spoke with hope in the face of adversity: “Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf”…
The opposite of addiction is connection. Lots of it. Tons and tons of connections. Not just any connection. I’m talking about the kind of connection that makes a difference. Connection that leads to correction. As we used to say in seminary, that’ll preach. Paul said, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your…