“The fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy” (Galatians 5:22) St. Teresa of Avila said, “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, Lord, deliver us.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest, paleontologist, and philosopher, said, “Joy is the surest sign of the presence of God.” Pastor and author Bruce Larson said, “Grimness is…
A few months ago, Beth and I vacationed on the north slope of Minnesota. The views of Lake Superior are simply stunning. I return every year on a personal writing retreat. It is a highlight of my year. One of the sites to not be missed is the Slip Rock Lighthouse overlooking the massive lake.…
God is not a fan of arrogance. In case you weren’t sure, hear his voice: “I am against you, arrogant one” (Jeremiah 50:31). That’s strong! God says he is against you if you live a life of arrogance. John Maxwell said, “There are two kinds of pride, good and bad. Good pride represents our dignity…
Addiction is a horrible professor. It teaches us to do things that leave irreparable damage. Lesson 1 is this – “Body, obey your emotions.” Recovery, on the other hand, is a master teacher. It tells us, “Emotions, obey your body.” Do the right thing long enough, and your emotions will eventually catch up with you.…
“With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning” (2 Peter 2:14). This speaks to the cycle of addiction: The result of repeated porn use and of crossing unhealthy sexual boundaries is the inevitable disruption of the brain’s pathways for releasing dopamine and oxytocin, which can cause short- and long-term changes in brain chemistry. Psychologist…
“Men naturally see shapes” (Jake Porter). It’s not something we work at; seeing shapes comes naturally for most men. That is why – sadly – many men see a collection of body parts when we should be seeing the total person, created in the image of God. The research is clear. Of the 40 million…
“They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Do your cisterns hold water? The only way your cisterns are guaranteed to hold water is if you turn to the leak preventer every day. Jonathan Edwards said it well: “How can you…
Do you know the difference between a cow and a buffalo? When storms come, cows and buffaloes do two completely opposite things. Cows run from the storm, while buffaloes run into the storm. By running from the storm, once the storm catches them, cows end up in the storm longer than the buffalo, who is…
Do you ever look back at the end of the day and feel like you accomplished almost nothing? Let me set you straight on that. We are living on a planet that is speeding through space at nearly 67,000 miles per hour. So even on a bad day, a day when you don’t get much…
A few months ago, we were hit by a hurricane. Two weeks later, it happened again. There were differences between Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton. For us, one of the differences was that with Milton, we lost power for what felt like six months. (It was actually six days.) When the power went out, everything…