Two-year-olds yell, “No! Me do it!” Teens demand of their parents, “Why can’t I go?” In a familiar Anacin commercial in the 1960s, a young housewife demanded, “Mother, please! I’d rather do it myself!” All seek independence. They want to do things their way. I’ve observed a similar attitude in the elderly. Even when unsteady…

“It was all about me and I didn’t care about nothing else.” So said Alexander, as he shared about his journey with anger in a letter he wrote to me. When he was seven years old, Alexander had already been kicked out of two schools because of his anger. He was involved with the law…

One of my favorite analogies to help understand the nature of God is the one of the potter and the clay. He is the Master Creator. I’m not a potter, nor am I super creative. However, I have made some Christmas gifts, cross stitch pictures, and quilts. With each, I enjoyed the creative process. The…

It’s finally Spring! Daffodils herald the season. The grass is turning green and newly plowed fields dot the country side. Buds swell and burst with color as they uncurl and stretch forth into leaves and blossoms. Robins abound, finches are turning bright yellow, and bird songs fill the air. Not to be outdone, thunderstorms are…

Three months ago, a couple that I’ll call Carl and Twanna, pursued their dream retirement and moved nearby into a fairly new, beautiful two-story home on some acreage. They settled in, met their neighbors, and were learning about their surroundings. Then, it happened. Their house began to settle. They can now skate across the kitchen…

I welcomed some visitors to our Sunday worship service and their response was, “Thank you for receiving us.” Their words stuck with me during worship because they seemed so genuinely grateful to be warmly received. It was time for the service to start, so there wasn’t time to visit, but from the brief minute we…

Have you ever had hard time trusting God? You know God’s bigger than the Thing before you. You know He’s been faithful in the past. You know your problem is that your faith isn’t big enough—not that God isn’t big enough. But, you still have a hard time fully releasing the problem into God’s hands.…

Jesus said that if we judge, we will be judged. Furthermore, the degree we judge will set the standard for how much we are judged. That should be consequence enough to keep us all from acting as judge in someone else’s life. In addition, God is judge. When we judge someone else, we put ourselves…

Twice lately, I’ve been in conversation with people who asked me, “What did I do to deserve this?” Each one was speaking of difficult, hurtful, and seemingly unfair treatment from others. In relationships, we sometimes unknowingly say or do things that elicit an unexpected harsh response. In other words, it could be argued that sometimes…

Are you for real, or do you wear a mask, projecting the image that you want others to have of you? We all do it some. It’s common for people to ask, “How are you?” but they don’t usually want a rundown of all your aches and pains, or of your recent conflicts, insecurities, or…