“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.” – W. B. Yeats from The Second Coming I recently read and re-read Roy H. […]
When it’s too tough for everybody else, it’s just right for me. – Anonymous In an earlier post, I argued that hardship shapes character. This time, I want to develop that idea further. Would you believe me if I said you need a battle to fight? An adversary? A foil? Think about it: every great […]
“Endure hardship as discipline…” – Hebrews 12:7 I never liked the word discipline. It always made me think of punishment — and I didn’t care for punishment. Losing privileges, being sent to my room, having my allowance docked — I never liked any of it. The worst, however, was corporal punishment — the dreaded […]
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” – Psalm 119:11 (NIV) In Part I, I recounted the biblical story of Balaam from the Old Testament book of Numbers. Most of what I have to say in this post will resonate more if you read that post (I’ll […]
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” – Proverbs 14:12 (ESV) The group of guys I meet with every Saturday morning (Hi fellas) is serious about becoming disciples who make disciples. This is a most worthy objective, and although it requires intention and perseverance, […]
“The starting point of all achievement is desire.” – Napoleon Hill Happy New Year, my friends and readers — Ontozoans all! From the title of this post, you may have discerned that I have chosen a focus word for this new year — Breakthrough. Over the past five-to-six years, I have been chipping away at […]
“Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.” – Proverbs 24:27 (ESV) Knowing what you have to do and doing it are two vastly different things. With multiple large-scale disasters over the past two months — everything from earthquakes, to hurricanes and floods, to wildfires, […]
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of […]
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (ESV) Today, I want to tell you a story that contains another story. A young friend of mine texted and asked me to recommend some Bible verses to encourage […]
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” – M. K. Gandhi If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know I’ve been discussing the book Roy H. Williams’ and Michael Drew’s book Pendulum, and its theme of history’s unfolding in alternating cycles of emphasis — from Me to […]
