The Fist is Back… Lessons from Billy Graham and Jesus

February 1, 2013

A recent journey through some stashed Youth for Christ memorabilia yielded a classic picture of Billy Graham… our first full-time employee and arguably the best known Christian evangelist of our lifetime.  It’s a classic picture.  It’s an inspiring picture.  It’s a convicting picture. It’s convicting because Billy Graham’s posture includes a clenched fist.  I’m guessing […]

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Made for An Oprah Interview

January 18, 2013

There is a story told in Genesis 39 that is fit for the Oprah Network.  Lies.  Sensuality.  Injustice. Joseph, a Godly and good leader in Egypt; arguably the comeback player of the year… of the years, now successful, trusted, responsible – and yes, attractive to the wife of Potiphar.  Plain and simple, Joseph was handsome.  […]

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Half Empty and Leaking

January 11, 2013

Impossible. There is no way. Forget about it. Nobody forced these words or phrases on me… they happened; an accumulation of difficulties and challenges in life.  Hopes high and delivery under performance. The glass that’s half empty has a leak.  Bad news just got worse. Faithfulness does not punch my ticket out of hardship or […]

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Today

January 4, 2013

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The […]

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Even the Darkness

December 21, 2012

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139:11-12) Darkness, with brazen and bold advance, broke through a glass door and assaulted the innocence […]

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My Hero

December 14, 2012

One hour.  That’s how long Paul Zurcher gave me. It was a gift laced with generosity. In 1948 a local banker in Monroe, Indiana slid three one hundred dollar bills into the courageous and zealous hand of Paul Zurcher.  That’s what it was going to take for Paul to purchase a one-bay auto garage in […]

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“Are you expecting?”

December 7, 2012

This is a question that should be asked wisely, and with the confidence that it is really rhetorical.  In other words, there should be very little, if any, doubt that the question will be answered affirmatively. The question really has application and appropriateness beyond the sphere of pregnancy. It belongs in the hearts and minds […]

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Ode to the Mist

November 30, 2012

          For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ~James 4:14b (ESV) A mist. Prone to vanish. A little time. Through the July sunshine I sensed the vanishing mist. As I crouched over the motionless and crushed body of my wife, I wrestled with the sunshine that seemed at […]

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Our Father…

November 16, 2012

“Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name.”  Matthew 6:9 I’m really grateful, Father, that you are in heaven.  I’m thankful that you can rise above the fray and the chaos and the hatred and the conflict and the decay and the abuse and the injustice – not from a sense of ignorance or dispassion, […]

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Now What?

November 9, 2012

As the evening waned and candidates delivered their respective celebration or concession speeches, a question began to surface: Now what? For those who saw their candidates of choice pronounced as winners, the question reverberates from a position of power.  Now what?  In such situations, we’re reminded that Godliness demands what democracy may not.  You and […]

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