Blog (Page 17)

Christmas has become so commercial with everyone often trying to “keep up with the Jones’” it can feel very overwhelming. Trying to do last minute shopping and the hustle and bustle can sure get to us in the end.             The first Christmas was not without its overwhelming features. Imagine a young virgin girl being told she was going to be with child, not only just any child, but the very Son of God. Talk about overwhelming! I think about…

Recently, over the Thanksgiving holidays my family and I took a trip to Junction, Texas where we celebrated Thanksgiving. My wife and I hunted while my parents stayed around the cabin. It was a great time of refreshment and fun. Our phones wouldn’t work, a blessing indeed, and there was no TV, and it was a time of detoxing from the busyness of life. The week after we came back, after experiencing this technological detox, I realized how much day…

This past Friday night the 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, took his final breath of life a little after 10 p.m. in Houston, Texas. I saw an interview over the weekend with the President’s longtime friend and tennis partner James Baker who served in many prominent positions of government, including his Secretary of State, that when he stopped by to visit the President on Friday morning, Mr. Bush said, “Hey, Bake, where we going today?”. Mr.…

The other day I referred in a talk which I was giving that the mission of the Christian is to stop evil with love through the gateway of forgiveness. I tried to make the point using the illustration of dominoes lined up in a row, and that when tipped over each domino takes out the next innocent one next to it not the domino that initiated the fall. We as sinful people often do the very same thing. When someone…

Here are some questions to ask yourself this Thanksgiving holiday: Are you grateful? Would others see you as a grateful person? What makes you grateful in your life? What keeps you from being more grateful in your life? Does gratitude impact your happiness?             Each one of us has so many reasons to be thankful not just for this holiday but for everyday of our lives. I realize I take so much for granted in my own life, and it’s…

This past weekend was Veteran’s Day. A time to recognize and celebrate what so many have offered in service and sacrifice to all of us in this great nation. We honor the soldiers of our country because of the risks each one signs up for to honor and protect the freedoms that so many in our country take for granted each day. I hope each veteran was honored by all this past weekend.             As Christians we are also called…

Have you ever heard someone say, “Man, that hit me like a ton of bricks!”? The death of a loved one, someone prominent in the community, a public figure, etc. can hit us just in the same way. Death is the final absolute of this life that each of us must face. Death is a reminder, an awful reminder, of the brevity and mortality of life. As I write this article, I am also preparing a funeral message to be…

Is it hard for you to trust? Trust can be very difficult for any of us especially if someone has abused our trust. Trust can be something that takes a while to build back up if someone has hurt us before. Yet, trust is an important part of any relationship because it allows us not to solely to depend on ourselves.             We have to admit we can’t do it all, therefore, whether we like it or not we need…

Have you ever seen a snake poke it’s tongue out? They are hideous creatures with forked tongues. You know who else has a forked tongue? Humans do! We often, as the old saying goes, ‘speak out of both sides of our mouth.’ We, to put it bluntly, have all been two-faced or as Scripture puts it, double-tongued. As believers, we are to seek authenticity in our lives. We are to let our “yes be yes” and our “no be no.”…

The word “blessed” can be translated as the word “happy.” Scripture states that happiness can be found in the company we keep or that we don’t keep. Many people are unhappy because they are taking advice from those who are not qualified to give it. It is like one alcoholic asking another alcoholic, who is active in his addiction, how to stop drinking. Who do you seek advice from in your life? Peer pressure is a real thing to deal…