Category: New Beginnings

What pops into your mind when you think of Christmas? Colored lights, tinsel, festive decorations? Familiar music, parties, family gatherings? Joy, the promise of a Savior, God with us? How about death, loss, and grief? That’s probably not what you expected. Christmas is a time for glad tidings of great joy, but we also must […]

Do you ever get the feeling that our version of Christmas is more about the wrapping than the gift? Jon Swanson wrote a wonderful article about Christmas programs. He’s right—we often get so concerned with the presentation that we forget the meaning behind it. Christmas isn’t about a perfect performance. Jon’s article stimulated my warped […]

Just tell me the rules! Have you ever reached that point? You can’t see a way forward or you’re not sure which way to turn and you just want a step-by-step guide? The Internet thrives on this human desire for an instruction manual. You can get rich without labor, lose weight without sweat, and find […]

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger… [Ephesians 4:21(a)] Do you cling to any traces of bitterness? Last week I wrote about talking to a younger version of me (Teaching Me). As I re-read my account of learning a scarcity mentality, it felt like I wrote a bit dispassionately. My words seemed somewhat cold […]

Is it possible that Abundance is a self-created cycle? The steps in this picture take the marchers perpetually uphill or downhill. Same steps—it’s all about which direction they choose to walk. I have a feeling the same sort of dynamic works for abundance and scarcity. Last time (Teaching Me) I talked about learning to think […]

Have you ever seen the sport of curling? Curling, like most games, incorporates complex strategies and techniques, but the basic idea is pretty simple. The object, like other similar games (Crokinole and Shuffleboard), is to score points by getting your team’s markers closer to the target. These games typically involve three main tactics: Slide your […]

Have you ever read a passage of scripture that seemed to smack you right between the eyes? Last night our small group encountered these verses. As they were read aloud I literally rolled my chair backward and said something profound like, “Huh.” For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as […]

Do you ever sense that the more you know the less you know? Perhaps, at least for me, a more accurate assessment would be “the more I know the less I learn.” Reconciled? Some time ago I read a discussion of Second Corinthians (don’t recall exactly where) that ended with a confusing, and somewhat accusatory, […]

The most unfair thing we could possibly do is to treat everyone exactly the same. Do you agree? I want to follow up on yesterday’s story about fairness. I recapped a conversation with a guy who definitely disagreed with the opening quote. John believed that allocating a disproportionate share of resources to those with special […]

How do you get past feeling discouraged? Right now, I don’t have a clue. Discouraged feels like a brick wall in my path. Ever been there? Maybe for you it’s fear or hopelessness or some other emotion. How do you get past it? What To Do? I’ve been writing this week about my idea that […]

What are your keys for building—or destroying—your relationships? I ran across a list the other day, one psychologist’s list of relationship killers. No groundbreaking information, but it got me thinking about my relationship with Jesus. It’s clear that relationship is God’s primary intention. Jesus’ central mission was to restore open, transparent interactions with God, others, […]