The Gospel from a Dog
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and my dog ripped it apart all the way to Enoch and Noah. The photo is of what my dog did to my holy Bible in the back seat floor of my car while I was driving down the road with the windows open and wind blowing, so I couldn’t hear her tearing it apart. Why did she do it?Because it was fun.I should kill her.But I don’t.Because I love her too much.I don’t even spank her. She’s usually the perfect dog. So why did she do it? Because she loves pawing at…
We Never Replace Something with Nothing
We never replace something with nothing. We always replace it with something else. After a week that left me physically and mentally tired, I took it easy in my morning prayer routine. I read my Bible and prayed each day, but I took a break from the spiritual disciplines I normally go through on most mornings. For most of the week I thought I was resting from all that, but at week’s end I realized I had only replaced it. I found myself unintentionally replacing those spiritual disciplines with other things: email, news, weather, to-do lists, bank balance, and social media posts. I was…
What Will You Hear?
The Bible encourages us to live our lives in ways such that when we physically die and get upgraded to heaven, Jesus will tell us something like, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, 23). I often wonder where I’ll fit on that spectrum. What about you? We are wise to be brutally honest with ourselves. With the Kingdom of God in focus, consider each word of the sentence: WELL — Live with an attitude and commitment to do things with excellence, particularly important things that matter, that represent who you are and what you do, and that make an eternal difference. No one…
Don’t Go Splat
While driving hundreds of miles across West Texas and New Mexico, I watched the road. And I watched my windshield. Did you ever notice which bugs splat against your windshield and which ones do not? Seriously, there’s a difference. Not all bugs that come into contact with your windshield splat. Some do not. Some bugs come straight at you and make a bit splat all over the glass you just cleaned at the last gas station. Other bugs come at you and rise with the air current speeding up your hood and windshield. But they don’t quite make it. They get…
Getting Past Fairy Godmother Faith
How often have you caught yourself feeling disappointed that God made you go through hard times? Too often I’ve done well at what I was good at and avoided the things I wasn’t good at. Focusing on strengths and delegating weaknesses is generally good advice. But too often I did not work hard or fight for the things related to what I was good at—like marketing my writing, like doing things I didn’t like to do to lead my church well. I wish that when I was growing up I had someone to tell me and show me that I…
