[display_podcast] Cut Off Toxic Family Members? I read an article this week titled, “Why It’s Okay to Cut Toxic Family Members Out of Your Life.”  It said that we should “never compromise our mental, emotional or physical health for the sake of tolerating a toxic family member.”  The article defined a toxic family member as those who’re judgmental, who feed off of drama, who gaslight you (meaning that they deny saying something that they actually said – also known as lying), who only talks to you when they need [...]

[display_podcast] The Crucial Role of Mom One of the most basic facts of our existence is that we wouldn’t be here today without our mothers.  We should therefore be grateful to God for them, because without them we literally wouldn’t be here.  Did you know that there are two billion moms in the world?  The average speed that moms change a diaper is two minutes and five seconds.  For dads, it’s one minute and thirty six seconds.  For moms, that adds up to three 40-hour work weeks each year!  [...]

[display_podcast] Daniel’s Gift of Revelation Dreams are interesting things.  Many people over-psychologize them.  Many others over-spiritualize them.  And many of us hardly ever remember them!  Some think that they’re simply a result of whatever we were thinking or feeling that day.  Some think that they’re direct messages from God and need to be interpreted to find a hidden meaning.  Maybe you’ve had a vivid or recurring dream and asked your spouse or a friend what they thought about it.  That can lead to an interesting and speculative conversation, as [...]

[display_podcast] A Romanian Immigrant In the late 1980’s, a young man in Romania said goodbye to his wife and three children, not knowing when he would see them again.  He was getting ready to flee the country in search of a better life.  By God’s grace, he was able to escape the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu and was given political asylum in the United States.  After two years of working in Turkey and Italy, he finally found a home in Dallas, Texas.  Had that man not done what [...]

[display_podcast] Winning by Dying The winner of a battle or war is the side with the most soldiers still alive.  The army or brigade or company with the most people still alive after a conflict is declared victorious.  Death mean defeat.  Staying alive is the way to military victory.  Nations can’t win wars if their soldiers are dead. Jesus turns this principle on its head.  Jesus gives up his life in order to win the victory for his people.  But Jesus’ didn’t die to defeat his enemies.  He died [...]

[display_podcast] A Sinful History Studying history helps us remember the past so that we can understand the present. Living wisely and winsomely in the world requires some level of understanding where we’ve come from.  History stops being boring when we understand its purpose. Our country has a checkered history in many areas.  There are bright spots and there are dark spots.  There is much good in our history, and there is much that is bad.  The history of the United States of America, just like our own personal histories, [...]

[display_podcast] The Giving Tree In 1964, Shel Silverstein wrote a children’s book titled The Giving Tree that tells the story of a tree that befriends a little boy.  The boy would come play by the tree every day.  He would climb it, swing from its branches, eat its apples, play games with it, and take naps in its shade.  The boy loved the tree very much and this made the tree happy. But as time went by and the boy grew up, the tree saw the boy less and less [...]

[display_podcast] Aron Ralston Trapped On the brisk morning of April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston set out on a hike through Blue John Canyon in Canyonlands National Park in Utah.  Ralston was hiking alone and he hadn’t told anyone where he was going.  He was an experienced hiker and climber, but he wasn’t prepared for what he would face that day and the days following.  As he descended a part of the canyon, an 800 pound boulder came loose and crushed his right hand against the wall.  He was trapped [...]

[display_podcast] Friends Tell the Truth Telling someone the truth is one of the most loving things we can do.  The people who love us the most are willing to tell us the truth.  Genuine and deep friendships are built on truth-telling.  I’m not talking about truth spoken in a condemning way, in a “I’m better than you” kind of way, but truth spoken with love.  The people who’ve loved me the most have told me the truth about me.  We’re drawn to deep relationships with these kinds of people [...]

[display_podcast] Seeing More of God’s Power I said two weeks ago that part of what it means to be a Christian is wanting more of God.  Wanting to know him more, enjoy him more, and see him more.  There is always more of him to see and understand.  This is why Paul prays the way he does in Ephesians 1:16-18.  Paul is praying that God would give these Christians a bigger and better sight of God.  That God would “open the eyes of their hearts” (v. 18) and that [...]