Elijah seemed to battle symptoms of bipolar disorder. King Saul was apparently struggling with major depressive disorder. Nebuchadnezzar glorified God as the giver of all good things after what looked like a seven-year bout with schizophrenia. Paul wavered somewhere between suicidality and …
Hope Never Comes From a Leprechaun
Hope is not something we naturally think about building. We can find or lose hope. Hope can be destroyed or recovered. But hope is usually built. And that is precisely the problem. We believe hope is akin to treasure at the end of a rainbow, as if some mythical munchkin will say, “Fresh out of …
We Did More Than Survive
Seventeen years. Seventeen. Years. I repeated the words slowly to myself today in Starbucks as I considered our anniversary (insert pithy comment about a typical male not being home on his anniversary here). Three thoughts come to mind when I ponder the last seventeen years with my wife: Boy have we …
Brittany Maynard Isn’t Brave, But These People Are
She is being heralded as brave for making this choice, and for publicizing it weeks in advance. But she isn’t brave. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not jumping into the fray with my opinion on whether physician-assisted suicide for terminal cases should be legal, or whether it’s ethical, or even if …
Porn: Something Christians Don’t Do
This post is something a bit different than what you would normally see on my site. It is a guest post on a vital topic, but this guest post is by an anonymous Christian. They have chosen to share a bit of their story in a very transparent way, with the hope of encouraging or challenging each of …
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Broken Hallelujahs
Confession time: I don’t like most Christian music. I find it trite and disconnected from the challenges of daily life, as if we are not allowed to acknowledge struggles in our songs. I believe it is a symptom of the biggest lie we tell as Christians –we are all okay, all the time. Every once in …
Depression and Heavy Water Create a Warrior
The cursor won’t stop blinking. Even when I don’t look at it, I know it’s there. Mocking me for the empty page in front of me. I know every page starts empty, but I feel the mockery nonetheless. The lack of words proves the whispers in my ear – You have NOTHING to offer. This is what it feels …
When #WINNING is not winning
Ever have one of those moments where you realize you are not quite as awesome a parent as you imagined? I had one of those moments two nights ago. My daughter Cynthia was out of pajama tops, so she asked to wear one of my t-shirts. I said yes, and she grabbed a shirt with the above image on …
When Life is the Roadrunner and You are Wile E. Coyote
Some days, life feels like the Roadrunner, smarter and faster than us. Quietly mocking our inability to catch up to it and feast upon it, no matter how many Acme products we use. It feels like we are hanging over the edge of a cliff, tenuously clinging to the branch of a tree that is slipping …
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Jeremiah, Droughts, Heat Waves and Thriving
Together we have looked at many people’s initial responses to the word THRIVE. I have shared why I am tired of overcoming. I even broke one of the cardinal rules of blogging. Before we go any further, let’s pull back for a different perspective. Truth is, only one Person knows what it really means …
Why Encouragement is The Secret to Discovering Your Identity
I am very excited to be lending my stage to James Prescott today. He is one of my close friends, a strong encouragement to me, and a gifted communicator. He is giving away a revised copy of his book 5 Steps to Encouragement, along with a companion devotional. Today, he talks about how encouragement …
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Thirty Thoughts on Thriving
Let’s continue the series on THRIVE. I mentioned earlier that 2014 is going to be the year to thrive. I also suggested that I am not an expert on thriving. I soon realized that nobody really is an expert, so I gathered thoughts from several dozen of my friends. I hope one of these captures your …