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Jesus Was Not Where He Was Supposed To Be John 20:1-7: “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and...

Family Big Enough? [ 1 min read ★ ] . . . a threefold cord is not quickly broken—Ecclesiastes 4:12 In the family context, building community means building expanded families around our existing, immediate families. These family “expanders” are trusted...

Alone at Work? [ 1 min read ★ ] Whoever isolates himself . . . breaks out against all sound judgment—Proverbs 18:1 Work is a place where we men are apt to live, not as our true selves, but rather as carefully crafted and false versions of ourselves. Work is a...

Here’s What Happens When You Assume the Worst Do you have “psychic-wife syndrome” or PWS? If you’re among the millions of wives who think you can read minds, maybe you should think again. Mind reading is when you assume you know what your husband is thinking or feeling without him saying a...

Breaking the Patterns That Keep You in a Rut Many of my clients sit down in my office and complain that they are stuck in a rut. It may not be full blown depression, but they just can’t find pleasure in day-to-day activities, their job, or their relationships. Kelly, 43, is a teacher and she’s...

May the Force . . . Be You [ 1 min read ★ ] . . . what I want mostly is for men to pray—1 Timothy 2:8-10 There are many forces at work in this world—forces colliding, reacting to each other, influencing one another. And you, brother, are one of them. Each of us is. The...

Want to Get Stronger? [ 1 min read ★ ] They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers—Acts 2:42 Want to get stronger? Want to be tougher? Get connected. When we face trials and challenges, those...

Easter Saturday – Disappointment, despair, and doubt Mary Magdalene woke that Saturday morning confused. Jesus was gone. How could the one who saved her from her demons not be able to save himself? How could the religious rulers who had been no help to her have felt so threatened by him that...

We Keep Choosing Barabbas The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Choosing Barabbas I’ve been intermittently listening to Bach’s Matthäuspassion performed by the Tölz Boys’ Choir over the last week. (You can watch it here.) It’s a sweeping...

How to Deal Effectively with Being Triggered by Your Partner Allyssa, 37, and John, 40, sat on the couch in my office for their first couples counseling session and spoke about how frequently they trigger each other. When this happens, it usually sets the stage for arguments where they say...

God Makes Much of Little Things God isn’t just in life’s monumental things. He’s present in the little things: rain drops, the artistry of spider webs, and the sound of an acoustic guitar. A child’s laugh, surfing songs, a swing set, sprinklers, and the smell of split cedar. Maple syrup, fresh...

Jesus and Time: “I Have Overcome the World” Cosmic Faith Each year, as the period of Lent approaches, I turn to John’s poignant account of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. The pace slows as the apostle devotes almost a quarter of his Gospel to this one intimate gathering of Jesus’ closest...

USSR Couldn’t Snuff Out Easter—Now Russians Reap Hope Generations of great-grandparents and grandparents carried forth Easter traditions such as egg-coloring, baking kulich (a special Easter yeast cake) and making paskha (a pyramid-shaped cottage cheese cake) for their Soviet grandchildren...

You’re Not Too Old: Moses and the Call at 80 Moses has tended sheep for half of his eighty years. You’d have to think, life in Pharaoh’s palace was a distant memory, but I’m not so sure. At eighty years old, you’d have to think he believed the ship of him being anything more than a shepherd...

Holy Week Is Humble Week: “Beware of Becoming Caesarified” Jesus’ Approach to Power Holy Week is Humble Week. We learn from Jesus’ approach to power that great leaders guard against tyranny and dignify our common humanity. May each of us follow suit and dye our imaginations in Jesus’ blood...

How Should We Evaluate Claims Of Visions or Dreams from God? It’s true that far too many Bible believers are in effect anti-supernatural. Some Christians argue against the miraculous with the same scorn of atheists and agnostics. The irony is stunning, since the Christian faith is rooted in...

The Forgotten Truth: Jesus Is Full of Happiness by Randy Alcorn The Glad Heart of Jesus In the first-ever gospel message of the newborn church, the apostle Peter preached that Psalm 16 is about Christ: “David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand...

Have You Missed It? [ 1 min read ★ ] . . . he rewards those who seek him—Hebrews 11:6 If God chose to speak to us using methods unmistakable, undeniable—a clearly audible voice or a conversation with an angel, perhaps—identifying his voice would be simple...

Living With Urgency [ 1 min read ★ ] The night is about over, dawn is about to break—Romans 13:11-14 No question, a lot of us men are living in “I know, I know” mode . . . in “I’m gonna do it, but just not right now” mode. You see, we know what’s important; we’ve just...

5 No Good, Very Bad Reasons for Divorce He gets on your nerves. Maybe he’s lazy, works too much or is bad with money. Or you think you might be happier with someone else. Do you find yourself pondering, “Should I get divorced?” I get it. Marriage can be a struggle. People sometimes use...