Reality Check

The older I get, the less excited I am about theory . . . and the more I care about reality. Who cares if the stuff that flows from my pen stimulates the intellect and gives folks fodder for philosophizing? So what if these words tickle ears and answer questions nobody is asking? Provocative, relevant, […]

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Passive Men, Wild Women

That phrase, Passive Men, Wild Women, isn’t original. It comes from psychiatrist Pierre Mornell, MD, whose book bears that title. It’s a good book, written in 1979, but you’d think the ink was still wet. The issue that concerns Dr. Mornell is as prevalent as it is relevant. And it is found in Christian marriages just […]

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Hope Beyond the Hurt

I got the call one cold February afternoon. My father said, “Son, I think your mother is gone.” The news took me completely by surprise. “Gone? Do you mean dead?” I asked. “Yes, I think she’s dead.” I hurried over to my parents’ apartment in Dallas. My sister had arrived before me and was talking […]

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Despite Your Circumstances

Few people in the first century had a deeper understanding of God’s grace than the apostle Paul. Redeemed from a life of vicious brutality as a rigid legalistic Pharisee, the man turned the corner, repented, and through Christ’s empowering became a gentle soul, gracious and affirming. Understanding. Forgiving. Approachable. He reached the place where he […]

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A Hope Transfusion

Easter and hope are synonymous. The special day never arrives without its refreshing reminder that there is life beyond this one. True life. Eternal life. Glorious life. Those who live on what we might call the “outskirts of hope” need a transfusion. Easter gives it. For some strange reason, I’ve experienced times in my life when several people […]

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God Knows Your Ways

“God has the whole world in His hands.” Remember the old gospel song? He’s got the wind, the rain, the tiny little baby, yes, even you and me in His hands. How easy it is to forget that! And it isn’t limited to our geography or our culture, you know. He’s got the Middle East in […]

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Commence Prayer

This actually happened years ago. It was in 1968 on an airplane headed for New York—a routine and normally very boring flight. But this time it proved to be otherwise. As they were on their descent pattern, the pilot realized that the landing gear was not engaging. He messed around with the controls, trying again […]

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Asking Why

The sound was deafening. Although no one was near enough to hear it, ultimately it echoed around the world. None of the passengers in the DC-4 ever knew what happened—they died instantly. That was 15th February 1947, when the Avianca Airline flight bound for Quito, Ecuador, crashed into the 4,267 metre high peak of El […]

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I Walked Where He Stood

It doesn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to guess the country of the following towns, though the names may be strange-sounding: Offenbach Wurzburg Darmstadt Bad Kissingen Mannheim Aschaffenburg Heidelberg Schweinfurt Worms Bischofsheim Ludwigshafen Coburg The land of beer steins, sauerkraut, liverwurst, and black bread; overflowing flower boxes; cuckoo clocks; wide, winding rivers; deep-green woods; gray-stone houses […]

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