Category: Word of the Week

HAPPY MONDAY! I’ve chosen a misused word as 2014’s final word-of-the-week… RESPECT Toward the end of my career I operated my classroom with a single principle: Everyone (including the teacher!) always deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Some kids believed respect was earned, but I taught them respect means regard. It means I see […]

HAPPY MONDAY! The baby in the manger brings us an odd word-of-the-week… OTHERIZING “Stop otherizing.” It’s the Christmas message, the thing the baby’s been trying to tell me. Other-izing: the process of discerning and accentuating differences between people so it’s apparent one group is clearly not like us–they’re the “others.” The whole point of Christmas was […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A comment from my wise wife brings today’s word-of-the-week… COMMON “The way you share your story creates common ground.” Becky consistently guides me back to the central importance of relationships. She says my story removes barriers because it includes elements with which everyone can identify. Someone asked me recently how I can work […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A cold indoor Sunday brings today’s word-of-the-week… NATIVITY Becky loves indoor Christmas decorations. Yesterday while I watched football, our house became home to more than a dozen Santa’s, a herd of reindeer, a variety of sleighs, some stars, a few angels, several framed Christmas puzzles, a couple of snowmen, a porcelain version of […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A visit this morning to an amazing place inspires today’s word-of-the-week… BRAND-NEW We’re headed to the Teen Challenge Ranch in Phoenix this morning. If you want to see a real, tangible, living-breathing-right-in-front-of-you example of the “new life” described in scripture, this is a great place to go. At the Ranch you meet men […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A thoughtful article got me thinking about today’s word-of-the-week… SELF-RIGHTEOUS Self-righteous people are just comparing. I never thought about it like that until Don Miller pointed out that self-righteousness is really just a way of building myself up by tearing others down. It’s not about being truly righteous, only appearing to be in […]

HAPPY MONDAY! Several converging thoughts got me thinking about today’s word-of-the-week… BEING Social justice seems to be the thing these days. Lots of folks talk about it, write about it, and give money to it. Some are even trying to actually do something about it. This newfound focus on justice ignites emotion and passion, but […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A fairly common question raises today’s word-of-the-week… NARCISSISTIC “Why is an all-powerful God so narcissistic that He demands our worship? Why does He need us singing and bowing down to Him? I love questions, and this is a great one. Is God a narcissist? Does He “need” our worship? I’ve written about this before. […]

Happy Monday! An interesting comment in a class for small group leaders prrompts today’s word-of-the-week… EXPERTS “People would rather read books written by experts about the bible than the bible itself.” It’s an interesting notion–why not let someone who knows the intracacies of Hebrew and Greek, the in’s and out’s of ancient culture, figure out […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A three-year-old conversation prompts today’s word-of-the-week FACTS “I’m a science guy. I rely on evidence, data, and facts.” I’ve frequently pondered my friend’s rationale for not believing in God, because I’m a science guy, too. I want bridge designers and architects and physicists—and lots of other folks—to be science guys as well. I […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A weekend gathering inspired today’s word-of-the-week… UNLIMITED We attended a going-away party for dear friends yesterday. As I looked around the room I realized how God surrounds us with the things we need most…in unlimited supplies. Grace, love, hope, courage, faith, smiles, forgiveness–they’re everywhere. It’s as though we were made of them, which is […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A friend’s reluctance to attend church prompts today’s word-of-the-week… DIVERSITY I know a man who loves Jesus with all his heart. He also happens to have black skin, and has reached a place where he doesn’t feel at home in church. I’ve had a difficult time understanding, but I think recent events in […]