Tag: Regular

Don’t waste a day! Photo by Ales KrivecI remember waking up in a dorm room at Ferris State University after a night of partying. I didn’t feel all that great. Honestly, I felt dirty and a little thin. The night before was fun, I laughed, I don’t think I cried, I drank a little too much and escaped from reality. That morning as I drove back to Central Michigan University I was overwhelmed by the thought that, “There has to be more than this.” There had to be right? Tom Brady has asked the same kind of question: As a college freshman I wasn’t very successful, but I was beginning to wrestle with some huge questions. The kinds of questions that altar your life. Ephesians 5:15 says, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” This phrase, “making the best use of the time” has captured me. From my Sophomore year at college...

Or…why I don’t want to be a Grinch Photo by Tim MarshallOne of my favorite Christmas stories is “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” I dig it for so many reasons. What I like the most is the Grinch’s revelation that Christmas is about something more than just presents. Do you remember what happens in that moment? His heart grew three sizes! It finally had room for the real meaning of Christmas and he finds the strength of ten Grinches! I was reading in Psalm 119:25–32 today and this last verse hit me between the eyes, I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! The psalmist is acutely aware that he needs a larger heart. Our hearts start so small and there’s not enough room. We need new ones, bigger ones, ones that have room for the commandments. I love this image! It reminds me of something that C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that...

The Christian life is not mind or heart but mind and heart. Photo by Sweet Ice Cream PhotographyI am reading After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright currently and it has been really helpful and really challenging. In my desire to avoid any kind of works based religion I have too often ignored the importance of good works. Wright has offered me an important corrective. This morning I was reading Ephesians 4:17–32 and it tied in with a section from Wright’s work that I’m in on the importance of the Christian mind. We have entered into a time where there has been a loss of Christian intellectualism in America. The Church in America has become all about the heart. My training at seminary in communication focused on engaging people’s emotions and their “hearts.” Engaging the mind and the renewal of the mind was largely ignored. Yet, as I read in Ephesians 4:17 and following I am struck by how the mind...

Nope, I don’t see any elephant ears… Photo by Filip Mroz“It’s not fair!” he whined, tears welling up in his eyes and his face beginning to flush red. “It’s not just NOT FAIR!” My son had collapsed into a heap on the football field. The fathers versus sons two-hand touch football had just concluded. The game had been an epic contest between ankle biting five year old boys and way past their prime dads. This battle of football giants had ended, as they have from the beginning of time, in a tie. “Don’t they know? Football games don’t tie! This is just terrible! IT. IS. NOT. FAIR!” My son, my first born child who has a passion for justice, even at the age of five, just couldn’t handle something not being fair. He knew that the game was rigged, and he hated it. My Facebook and Twitter feeds have been filled with adults whining, “It’s not fair!” Their candidate lost or their candidate is being maligned or...

They get exactly what they want. Photo by Brandon MorganOver the last few days I have bumped into an article by Rhonda Stephens entitled, “Parenting: Are We Getting A Raw Deal?” I saw it once and read it. I saw it a second time and read it again. The first time I laughed and remembered my childhood and how it reflected much of what Stephens wrote. I appreciated that at the end she makes it clear that maybe the current state of affairs is not the way things ought to be. Then it struck me, kids only do what parents allow them to do or not do. Her rant was great. But, maybe I missed it, is she making changes in her home? Is she calling for anyone else to make changes? I am reminded of a marvelous section of Donald Miller’s book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, where he talks about a family waking up to a similar reality. The dad made...