KISS is an acronym for ‘Keep It Simple Sam’. What a great reminder that is as things tend to get complicated too often. Even my effort to search for one of my favorite country songs got complicated recently. Looking for “This Kiss” I ended up with another song, “Kiss This” which has a different theme all together.
Eighteen months into their marriage, life got complicated for the young couple. Their first child was on his way two years ahead of “schedule”. They both had careers and were making good money, yet they ...read on
Creed, effectively Rocky VII, is another story of an unknown going up against an unbeatable opponent and gaining respect as a fighter. Starting with Rocky in 1976, the seven film series has grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office! What is it about “the fight” with a very consistent story line that keeps people buying tickets?
What is worth a fight for you? The consistent thread through the Rocky films seems to be manhood – A real man keeps getting up! While walking in the neighborhood recently, a friend and his wife were held up at gun point ...read on
In the hit song “Happy”, Pharrell Williams has an uplifting tune and dance routine with energy to blast through any bad news trying to drag you down. The lyrics say to “Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth; Clap along if you know what happiness is to you.”
Do you know what happiness is to you? Sigmund Freud, the renowned psychologist from the early 1900’s equates happiness with pleasure, specifically the pleasure that comes from satisfying sexual needs. The “pleasure principle,” writes Freud, “dominates the operation of the mental apparatus from the start.” C.S. Lewis disagrees ...read on
“Off with the old and in with the new,” is the common mantra as the calendar turns to the New Year. It is easy to say but not so easy to do. Each year my buddy would draft a plan to not let the busy-ness of life dictate his priorities. But then, each year he would find himself caught up in busy-ness, reacting to circumstances instead of working the plan.
Things were busy last spring. The schedule was tight yet his grown kids were coordinating a trip to Ireland for the family. He was frustrated that he would not be able to join his family on the trip. Then ...read on
Were you one of those guys saying, “Merry Christmas” to everyone the last few weeks? Did you disappoint the retailers by not getting caught up in the materialism? Was your usual family gift exchange replaced with carrying gifts to others in need? Was there something different about the way you reflected the Gift this year?
How can you be more different in the New Year? A friend recently told me of a practice he and his wife initiated ...read on
This final week of Advent is about love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,” John 3:16. Merry Christmas indeed! Watching the news or reading the headlines could lead a person to think that love is dead, maybe even that God is dead. In an interview last weekend, Eric Metaxas stated, “The death of God is greatly exaggerated.” He said that Christians have no right to stay silent. Regardless of how society changes for the secular, Christians have no excuse ...read on
A “credible” threat shut down the Los Angeles school district this week. Just over a week ago, an office Christmas party in San Bernardino ended with 14 dead and 22 injured in what was identified as a terrorist attack. Just over a month ago an evening in Paris turned into a nightmare at a soccer match, a concert and a popular restaurant ending with 130 dead, all killed by seven terrorists. Just over a year ago ...read on
My friend was in the hospital undergoing a second round of chemo treatment for cancer and he was smiling. His smile was contagious. When a nurse asked him about having such a positive countenance through these trying times, he shared that it was all about his relationship with Jesus the Christ. Over the days following, the nurse found ways to spend a little extra time with him during her shift to ask more questions about his faith.
When I visited a few days into his treatment, he was ...read on
It was not looking good. There were already five divorces in his family! He had prayed for a happy marriage and family but would have understood completely if his girlfriend turned down his proposal for marriage. All he could really offer was a stubborn determination to break the cycle of divorce in his family and hope that it would be enough. She said, “Yes!”
It is not easy to be thankful with the state of the world, the state of the church and the state of the family today. Everything temporal, including the 24/7 news cycle, suggests the world is going to hell in a handbasket. But we know God is always at work. It was in pretty dire times that our Father sent His Son to testify to the Truth and plant the Church. The disciples and the Church have persevered in the face of persecution to be a testimony to Truth. And it continues today, that under the word of God the Church is in position to stand firm against worldly influences. We are to be thankful for where the Lord has us.