Feb 11, 2016 | Anger, Depression, Forgiveness, Uncategorized
In last week’s blog—Swallowing the Bitter Pill—I admitted my occasional struggle with bitterness. We explored the negative impact of grudge-holding on our spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. I introduced several forgiveness thought-starters for us to...
Feb 4, 2016 | Anger, character, Depression, Forgiveness, friendship, Marriage, Relationships
In 1989 Don Henley released a hit single entitled: The Heart of the Matter. Some insightful lyrics in this song are: “There are people in your life who’ve come and gone They let you down and hurt your pride Better put it all behind you; life goes on You...
Dec 3, 2015 | character, Contentment, Depression, Fear, friendship, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Work
We live in a crazy world. If you watch the news, you’re bombarded with disturbing images and stories. Most news programs don’t lead with stories about the positive things in life. Human nature defaults to focusing on what’s wrong in life. As a result, our world...
Nov 13, 2015 | Calling, Career, character, Depression, Family, Leadership, Relationships, Rest, Stress
Being a pastor has its great points. Being a pastor has its not-so-great points. Some people have a naïve view of pastors. They’re convinced since he or she is doing the Lord’s work, a pastor’s life is a charmed life… exempt from normal human pressures, and the wear...
Sep 18, 2015 | Contentment, Depression, Family, Forgiveness, friendship, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Work
This past weekend Laura and I served a church in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For those of you who are not Michiganders, our state’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas are connected by the 5-mile long Mackinac Bridge. If you don’t like bridges, you really wouldn’t like...
Aug 20, 2015 | Anger, Calling, Career, character, Contentment, Depression, Productivity, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Uncategorized, Work
In last week’s blog – The Power of No Part 1 – we introduced the idea of saying no as a brave thing to say. We considered three filters we can run our “no” through: Mission, mindfulness, and methodical-ness. We learned the power of no can keep us centered and sane. In...