I pray that I have used it well — Today I turned sixty. To put things in perspective, the current life expectancy in the United States as of this writing is just shy of seventy-nine years old. Curiously, for some reason, in Kansas, where I live, it is a few months shorter than average but I don’t plan on…

How God’s grace surpasses any gift we could ever envision — I recently wrote a piece on the mercy of God entitled Not Getting Everything You Deserve. In it, we found that mercy, or not receiving justified punishment, keeps us from being condemned to Hell. Today I want us to look at a different component of this equation that was touched…

Nobody ever wants to feel guilty; but does it serve a purpose? — What is guilt? To simply define it, guilt is both a cognitive and an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes that he or she has violated a moral standard and is responsible for that violation. In essence, it is the knowledge, or at least the belief, that a person has done…

I doubt it — There is a story about a king who, knowing that he was close to death and realizing that his son succeed him soon, considered how he would leave behind a legacy that would not only be remembered but could be replicated and help the people of the land prosper. He…

While not forgetting those who came home — Who we remember. The United States is far from the only country that honors those who have fallen in battle, although Memorial Day as celebrated on the last Monday in May is a strictly American holiday. …

Why aren’t my prayers being answered? — Does it even matter? One of the most asked questions that Christians have for clergy, right up there with, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”, is either “Does God really answer prayer(s)?” or “Why doesn’t God answer my prayer(s)?” There are assurances throughout the Bible that God is listening. The list is…

Disasters and challenges are part of His master plan. — Disasters are all around us. The American Red Cross responds to over 60,000 disasters every year. This translates to a call to action roughly every eight minutes somewhere in the United States alone! I can personally say as a Disaster Spiritual Care chaplain for the organization that this keeps us busy. Disasters will come. How…

While 30,000 crucifixions took place in ancient Rome, only one would change the world forever! — Was the death of Jesus just another execution? Three crosses at Calvary have become the symbol by which Christians have remembered the day Jesus of Nazareth died. To those who crucified Him, He was actually being executed for claiming to be the “King of the Jews”, a threat seen by the Roman government as one who would insight…

He has His own timetable — Who is planning your life? Some time back I wrote an article that addressed waiting patiently on God to answer our prayers. It focused mainly on our tendency to pray for things with the idea that we should be able to ask today and see answers/results tomorrow. …