What is the most stressed you’ve ever been? Did your whole body get tense? Did you scream? Did you eventually get sick? All human reactions to stress. Here’s one more: Did you sweat blood? As we are in the Easter season and the joy of the resurrection, we first think of Jesus’ pain on Good Friday. But it’s worth knowing that his greatest pain was not physical. And there were only two points when he lost his composure. The first was in the Garden of Gethsemane immediately prior to his arrest and crucifixion, where Jesus prayed intensely. So what…
[ Read More → ]
I predict that to a surprising degree, this new year will bring you a response to what you bring to it. You may or may not have made a New Year’s resolution, but they typically rely on willpower. And willpower is like a battery with a limited energy cycle—it needs to be frequently recharged. That’s what makes resolutions so vulnerable to failure. But if we use our willpower to form simple habits that we do every day, the habits pave the way to accomplish what might otherwise elude us. That’s where I encourage you to consider the annual growth commitment….
[ Read More → ]
Those who live well in the face of eternity are keenly and joyfully aware this Christmas season that the eternal One came to earth so that we could spend eternity with him. Here’s a Christmas verse from the One whose birthday we celebrate: “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Considering that we are celebrating not our birthday but the one of he who identified with the poor and oppressed, how would a person follow what he says? AdventConspiracy.org encourages us…
[ Read More → ]
In Montgomery, Alabama, I visit the Legacy Museum, where for the first time in my life I start to learn the full truth of the African-American experience, not just in slavery but from the Civil War to 1965: mob violence, Black Codes, Convict Leasing, lynching, institutionalized suppression through Jim Crow laws, and abuse through manipulation of the criminal justice system. I was speechless. The subjugation of blacks across the entire South, aided by inaction in the rest of the country, enabled an ever-evolving white supremacist caste system to perpetrate itself for one hundred years. I’m stunned that I never had…
[ Read More → ]If you have questions or comments related to this blog, please post them as blog comments rather than emailing me, because others may have similar thoughts, and I can respond to everyone. Yet I welcome emails for more personal questions or comments.
You may disagree with me or dislike what I write. If so, please be respectful in your comments. I reserve the right to delete comments that I determine to be disrespectful, offensive, misleading, or soliciting.
I grant you the right to quote me as long as you give proper credit for what I write. And I reserve the right to quote you and promise to give you proper credit.
