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Climbing the Ladder of Real Success

Self-help is all the rage these days. One can assume that the voracious appetite for this kind of material serves to illustrate the perceived need of folks who are working very hard to be better, to improve with a goal to be more successful, and more fulfilled and happy. I can certainly understand this desire.…

Why Hate the Sin and Love the Sinner Doesn’t Work

It surprises many to learn that the phrase hate the sin and love the sinner is not in the Bible. This idea seems to have originated with St. Augustine (c.424) in one of his letters when he used the phrase "Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum" that translates as "with love for mankind and hatred…

Once upon a time, in a far away land, a wise man made a discovery. He discovered fire and with fire, he could be warm, cook his food and have light through the dark of night. He had heard of a people across the mountains; the people who lived on the plains and he wondered…

Bruised and Broken? God has a Plan for You!

Thornton Wilder's play, “The Angel that Troubled the Waters” is based on the story found in John 5:1- 5 with an interesting twist. The play tells the story of a doctor who visits the pool of Bethesda in hopes that he could be the first in the water when the angel appears and troubles the…

The Grace to Endure the Crushing Things of Life

Words like crushing, dying, despair, utter darkness are good words to describe walking through the valley of the Shadow of Death but are anemic when you have never experienced them, and quite honestly, I hope you never have to. But the reality is, some of us have, and for some of us this may be…

Once upon a time there was a faithful man named Philip. Philip loved God very much and spent his life serving and sharing the “Good News” in the foreign country of Zamzam. Zamzam was a lovely place, and the people were even more lovely. Philip spent many years traveling all over Zamzam telling…

They say that you become what you look at, and I think in many ways they're right. For example, if we spend a lot of time watching violent movies or video games we can become desensitized to violence, and some studies suggest that we are much more likely to behave violently. If we focus…

There once was a priest, a lover of Jesus who served the people of his town well. Every time the town faced difficulties they would approach the priest and ask that he pray for them. The priest loved the people and was happy to pray for the community, and he would withdraw to a special…

Jesus tells a story in Matthews 25 of a King who calls a meeting of his subjects. He said to the group to the right of him, "I want to sincerely thank and commend you. For I was sick, and you cared for me. I was hungry and thirsty, and you fed me and gave…

There is a comedian who has a bit where he describes some of the idiosyncrasies of living in the Southern United States. He laughs as he describes how people would say things like “That baby sure is ugly! Bless his little heart” or “Betsy sure looks fat in that dress. Bless her heart!” He jokes…

Blog

Climbing the Ladder of Real Success

Why Hate the Sin and Love the Sinner Doesn’t Work

Legend of the Fire Maker

Bruised and Broken? God has a Plan for You!

The Grace to Endure the Crushing Things of Life

The Word that Lives

Looking at Jesus

Why is God Good? – A Story

The Least of These?

Speaking the Truth in Love