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Why do you have traditions? One of my favorite jokes about tradition goes something like this. A young woman, just after getting married, wants to cook a roast for Sunday dinner. She asks her mother to teach her. The mother takes her grocery shopping, teaches her to pick out a
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Patience is a virtue. I know it is a maxim. Some people might call it trite. Still, patience is one of the most useful qualities to have in your character. This world will try you. This world will come after you with all its got. This world can wear you
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Confusion is compounding. It’s one of the reasons that mastering something is hard but anyone can learn the basics. The basics are simple and easy to figure out. At some point, though, the material gets harder. It takes work to learn it properly. It takes effort to think through
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Life lessons are usually hard. It can be difficult because the lesson itself is a difficult one to learn. It can be difficult because it needs to be learned several times before we really understand. It can be difficult because it requires long periods of time to learn. It can
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Living a life constantly caught in the tension between the will of God and the desires of the people can be interesting. On one hand, glorifying God is our chief goal. On the other hand, God wants us to be among the people and encourage those around us to grow
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What must the disciples have been thinking? When Jesus asked them to go and count the amount of bread and fish they had, how much did they wonder about Jesus’ plan? When they came back to Jesus with two fish and five loaves and He didn’t seem to understand
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Perspective is everything. One of my greatest frustrations is that I am unable to see the world through God’s eyes. I get focused on things like my agenda, my desires, and my concerns. Life happens around me and I get upset if something affects my agenda so things don’
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A significant portion of our culture is based on following. One person does something interesting and suddenly everyone is trying to copy them, outdo them, or somehow connect themselves to it. Youtube videos borrow formats and content from other creators. Someone invents an interesting product and suddenly dozens if not
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Ministry utilizes a cyclical nature. A great analogy Jesus frequently uses for the work of the kingdom of God is agriculture. We begin when a seed of truth is planted within us. The first thing to happen to the seed is nurture and growth. Once the seed matures into a
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Good ethics and good character take work. There is a reason people know that only those who get the little things right consistently also get the big things right consistently. Making hard decisions takes practice. Reaching into your person and finding the strength to tap the ethics required takes practice
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Family dynamics can be rough. One of the things that I love about the Bible is that it doesn’t shy away from portraying the gamut of how families function. Mary and Joseph seem to care intensely for Jesus at His birth. Yet when Jesus is transitioning to ministry, Jesus’
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Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure. As a young kid, I would get cranky in the middle of Christmas Day after all the presents were unwrapped and we’d had Christmas Dinner. I was cranky because in my excitement for Christmas I got very little sleep the night before.