Imagine that you saw a man hanging around a dumpster. He looked hungry, so you gave him a $100 gift card to the supermarket just a few steps away. With that card he could purchase anything he wanted – steak, seafood, snacks, desserts, or produce. Your gift card would supply him with enough meals to…
It has been reported that John Wesley’s final words were, “The best of all is, God is with us.” That is a powerful promise. In your addiction, God is with you. In your pain, God is with you. In your betrayal, God is with you. You can’t chase him away. You can’t outrun God. Even…
“Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart” (2 Chronicles 25:1-2). Amaziah became king at an age when most of us are still trying to graduate from college. To his credit,…
“The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry” (Mark 11:12). In my mind, I easily see a conquering Jesus. I see a healing Jesus, a preaching Jesus, and a miracle-working Jesus. But a hungry Jesus? The day before Jesus was hungry, Jesus was busy. He rode into Jerusalem triumphantly. He visited the…
Can you ever quit doing recovery work? What if you have ten years of sobriety? Or twenty? I love the way Dr. Milton Magness says it: “You might outgrow addiction, but you’ll never outgrow recovery.” Let me use an analogy. Imagine that you are climbing a 14,000-foot mountain. The more you climb and the higher…
God promised King Hezekiah, “I will add 15 more years to your life” (2 Kings 20:6). If you had a guarantee of 15 more years, what would you do with that promise? Let me suggest a few things. I give you 15 ideas for 15 years. Make your own list. Be proactive with your life…
It happened on April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m. The unsinkable did the unthinkable. The RMS Titanic sank 2.5 miles to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 2,208 people aboard, about 1,500 died in the icy waters. But 712 survived. The most famous of the survivors was Molly Brown, who lived another 20…
On March 2, 1775, Patrick Henry spoke at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. He offered this famous line: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” We should all cherish liberty as much as Patrick Henry did. Slaves to our addictions, we have…
I recently came across a little verse in one of the least quoted books of the Bible. John, one of the early followers of Christ, was checking up on the development of new believers. Word came back to John. Notice his response to that report: “It has given me great joy to find some of…
Mr. Potato Head was invented by George Lerner in 1949, and distributed widely by Hasbro. The new children’s toy was an overnight success. And anything that is a success is worth talking about. Within three years, the world had met Mr. Potato Head. In 1952, it became the first toy advertised on national television. Anything…