Do you ever consciously think about whether you’re going to smile and be nice to someone? Perhaps you’ve had a thought go through your mind something like: “If I smile at this person, then they might ask me to do something for them…Or, they might think that I want something…Or, they might think that I’m up to something… Or, they might think…

My heart goes out to those who do not have the full use of the senses of the human body, whether by birth or by other circumstances later in life. How precious are those faculties, and those who have lost one or more of them know that all too well. Which is the worst to lose? How sad it would be to…

Have you ever had one of those days when you just feel absolutely useless to the Lord? You have a rough night’s sleep and you start the day off a little testy. You try to make the best of it, but then you check your email and there’s a harsh message from someone who misunderstood you the day before. On your way…

Have you ever been involved in a group conversation and someone in the group starts speaking for you? “Well, this is what David wants…this is what David thinks…this is what David would do…” (Insert your name, unless it’s David.) Have you ever thought, “Hello! I’m right here! Can I speak for myself, please? I’m pretty sure I know me and what I…

It is interesting how often God inspired New Testament writers to inform us that certain people were not willing to act because of what other people might think or do. Herod Antipas wanted to kill John the Baptist, but at first he would not because “he feared the multitude,” who considered John to be a prophet (Matt. 14:5). The chief priests and…

There are some religious folks who are so enamored by the wonderful mercy of God and, simultaneously, so offended by others who place such strong emphasis on the absolute (and limited) truth of God, that these folks will lift up God’s mercy to the near exclusion of God’s truth. To the opposite extreme, you can find religious folks who are so fixed…

The trend in recent years has been to isolate young people away from the “old people” in the church and into their own “secluded factions.” The reasoning has been something like this: “Young people don’t want to be around the older folks. We’ll attract more young people if we’ll energize them into active, fun and exciting  programs … without the ‘old folks.’”…

Whenever someone thinks that we’re binding something that we shouldn’t be binding (like singing a cappella in worship, or limiting the public leadership role of women in the church), that’s when the assaults of legalism are hurled at us. This, of course, is meant as a sharp criticism and is intended to get us to back down and/or minimize our influence upon…