Without Provocation?

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Every Thursday I’ll post an article having to do with either relational or emotional matters. Hope it helps. — Without Provocation? “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” - Hebrews 10:24 An unprovoked life is incomplete. Convenient, probably, and certainly free of unwanted feedback, but incomplete. Someone should know you, and someone should have access to your heart and mind to the extent that she or he can speak to your blind spots. That’s a critical part of discipleship, often overlooked Continue Reading

When Truth Isn’t Enough

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Every Thursday we’ll post something to do with relational or emotional concerns. Hope it helps. — When Truth Isn’t Enough  Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. - Romans 12:15 One of my worst memories ever is of a funeral service I conducted as a young minister. A twenty-something mother contacted our church asking if someone would do a eulogy for her baby, who’d just been violently killed by her boyfriend. The offender was in prison; she had no family, only a few friends, so would we Continue Reading

The Unscheduled Appointment

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Every Thursday we’ll post something to do with relational or emotional concerns. Hope it helps. — The Unscheduled Appointment I love what I do for a living, and count myself hugely blessed when I remember how rare it is for your work and your first love to be the same. I come alongside men getting serious about their holiness, I write on subjects that matter to me, and I speak to churches and conferences, all of which I’d do as a volunteer if I had to do something else for income. My work is my passion, so I’m a pathetic brat if Continue Reading

Facing The Fire

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Every Wednesday we’ll post something to do with doctrine and recovery.  — Facing the Fire “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ---” I Corinthians 3:11-13 Any Christian feeling a call to service should get a good grasp on the parable of stewardship in Matthew 25:14-30. It describes a master commissioning his servants with differing amounts of money, then taking a Continue Reading

Coming Out Manly

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Men coming out of the closet is business as usual. But pro athletes coming out of the locker room are another matter, one that’s making ripples and headlines everywhere.  As of this writing, at least one unnamed but presumably well-known professional player, from one of the four major sports, is about to drop the “I’m Gay” bomb. The National Hockey League, in anticipation of the big event, now officially offers its support to gay Americans in general and gay athletes in particular. Not to be outdone, the National Football League has Continue Reading

Getting the Sound Bite Right

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Every Thursday I’ll post an article having to do with either relational or emotional matters. Hope it helps. — Getting the Sound Bite Right “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a picture of silver.” -Proverbs 25:11 My lovely wife gets all the breaks. She’s warm and inviting, a friendly woman who extends herself easily. I’m reserved, somewhat shy, not good at small talk and, according to feedback I’ve gotten since I was 3 months old, not friendly looking. So everybody loves Renee, and wonders what she’s Continue Reading

Obama’s Blunder; Was It Really That Bad? Renee and Joe at an Impasse

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Renee and I are having an argument and nobody’s budging. It’s not bad; we’re just at an impasse over President Obama’s remarks about Secretary of State Kamala Harris, his subsequent apology, and the media fallout. Now, as I understand it, The President, addressing a fundraising lunch in Atherton, California , referred to Ms. Harris as “the best-looking attorney general in the country." Uproar ensured; talking heads bobbed. No surprise there; that’s the kind of thing our 24 hour news cycle thrives on. But what did startle me Continue Reading

Tears of Remembrance On Good Friday

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Every Friday we’ll take a break from topical posts and will post some random personal thoughts. — Tears of Remembrance on Good Friday I cried when I saw Schindler’s List, copiously and without embarrassment. The film taught me nothing new about the holocaust, so it didn’t educate me. But it reminded me, via graphic story-telling, of something unfathomable, something that should regularly be remembered and grieved. So weeping was called for. But afterwards I had to ask myself So what? Would crying erase the suffering, much less Continue Reading

Talking Marriage With A Human Rights Commission

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This week I was asked to speak to a Human Rights Commission in another state about the role Christians can play in opposing discrimination. I appreciated the chance, and enjoyed discussing how conservative Christians like myself find common ground with anyone opposing the mistreatment of others. During my presentation, I mentioned that Jesus did clarify in Matthew 19 that marriage was designed to be a heterosexual, monogamous and permanent union, yet He also vigorously defended the marginalized – prostitutes, a Samaritan woman living with a Continue Reading

Releasing My Wounder

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Every Thursday I’ll post an article having to do with either relational or emotional matters. Hope it helps. — Releasing My Wounder We’ve all got them – wounds, past injuries of the soul that still show themselves, either in current pain or current behavior. They can show themselves in current pain through memories that just won’t die. Sometimes a mental picture of a traumatic event, like a childhood humiliation or tragedy, keeps intruding into your thoughts. Maybe you let yourself relive it, and all the pain of the event Continue Reading