A friend experienced a setback. A “speed bump” is how he described it. I’d say it was more like a major detour, but either way, things aren’t exactly going his way right now. This is a guy who’s had his share of struggle along the road, and things were starting to look a bit brighter. […]
Continue readingCategory: About Relentless Grace
Not My Job
It’s not my job to manage or control another person. It’s my place to listen, patiently, and try to understand. It’s not my job to tell another person what to do. It’s my place to hear his dilemma and help him clarify the options. It’s not my job to be certain what I’d do if I […]
Continue readingWhere’s The Peace On Earth?
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will […]
Continue readingThanksgiving
Becky, Monte, and I want to wish each of you a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.
Continue readingWhat I Assume About You…
doesn’t tell me much about you. I’ve bumped into the notion of assumptions a lot lately. Paul Merrill wrote about chairs. Dick Foth talked about categories. And whenever I encounter the same idea a bunch of times, I figure perhaps God’s trying to get my attention. What I assume about you tells me a little about […]
Continue readingAll Those Times We Try To Be God
You and I would never try to take God’s place, right? Except I’ve noticed I do it a lot, and I suspect I’m not alone. It’s not on purpose–I don’t have a throne in my back yard or anything like that. It happened most recently when a friend got in some trouble and I wanted […]
Continue readingWhere Did They (We) Go Wrong?
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. (Matthew 22:15) It’s not an isolated incident. Religious leaders were always seeking opportunities to twist Jesus’ words, catch Him breaking a rule–anything to discredit Him and diminish His increasing influence among the people. We’ve read the stories so often, maybe we […]
Continue readingWhy Is The Other Guy So Unreasonable?
It’s awfully easy to say, “You’re wrong. You’re an idiot. You’re a loser.” Not all that useful, though. Shouting at the guy on the other side (who thinks you’re wrong) isn’t likely to close the gap. If your only goal is to sound cool to your own team by belittling the losers on the other […]
Continue readingWhose Truth Is It?
I believe in absolute truth. I also know humans view truth through the imperfect lens of their own experience. As the picture indicates, it’s impossible to consider truth independent of the perspective of the observer. Truth is a cylinder. From my perspective, it’s a circle. You’re certain it’s a square. I’ve observed that people of good will […]
Continue readingA Mile In Their Shoes
“Before you abuse, criticize, and accuse…walk a mile in my shoes.” That’s the advice of a ’70s pop song. Pretty basic–before we judge, it’s a good idea to find out how the other person sees things. A few days ago Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley was booed for saying, “All lives matter.” Why would anyone object […]
Continue readingWhat Do You Do When You’re Angry?
I want to pound the table. I want to shout, throw things, start a fight. I want to fill my social media with angry, sarcastic, indignant reactions. That’s what I want to do when I see injustice, when the words and acts of others harm innocent bystanders. Human trafficking. Racism. Sexism. Religious intolerance. Poverty. Needless mass incarceration. […]
Continue readingThe Truth About Truth
The other night we were talking about truth. What’s truth? Can we know it? Is there more than one version? Heady questions, for sure. I’ve been thinking about my ideas in connections with the TEDx Front Range talk I’m doing next month, and I thought I’d share a bit of it here. I’d appreciate your […]
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