“Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could” — Richard Rogers (“Something Good”) As Christmas approaches, I’ve been thinking about the importance of traditions. Having a set of practices tied to the Christmas season has generated lots of benefits for me and my household. I credit our traditions with the following: Making memories and sharing experiences that strengthen […]
Merry Christmas! While we celebrate the incarnation of Christ Jesus, I want to ask you to consider the example of a man who was indispensable to the Christmas story — Joseph the carpenter. Meet Joseph When we first meet Joseph in the Bible, he is defined in terms of his relationships — as the […]
Christmas is just around the corner. Despite the holiday-themed TV ads that began in early November and the radio stations that started playing Christmas music around the same time, it’s possible you may have missed it. As a friend of mine observed, “Christmas seems to come earlier every year.” If the crass commercialization of the […]
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” – Psalm 116:15 (ESV) As I have written, we lost my mother-in-law, Carolyn, in early October following a tragic accident on a Florida bridge. Because her husband, Jack, was still in critical condition, we decided to postpone Carolyn’s funeral until Jack had […]
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” -1 Peter 2:9 (NIV) From the time my first son was born I have been a fan of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles […]
“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome, ‘Do your worst, for I will do […]
“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) I owe a number of debts to author John Eldredge. His collaboration with the late Brent Curtis, The Sacred Romance, revolutionized my perception of the character and […]
“The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.” – Proverbs 10:7 (ESV) “It shouldn’t have happened.” Those were my wife’s words on Sunday — the day she and her siblings, our nephew, and I said goodbye to their mother, his grandmother, my mother-in-law. “It shouldn’t have happened. […]
“Marriage is the graduate school of service.” – Pastor David Chadwick I’ve made no secret of my belief in marriage. Mrs. Booth and I have been married for nearly 32 years, with the struggles and joys that come with being married that long. It has been and is a great thing and I love being […]
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” – Proverbs 14:12 How do you make decisions? When you’re running out of time and you have to choose one option and only one option, how do you determine which one to take? Some men select the […]
