“Purposeful waiting.” It sounds like a nice title for a fictional story. A little bit like a Hallmark movie. We can most likely dictate what will happen at the end when we’re only ten minutes into the movie.
There is a child that runs away, physically, mentally or spiritually – or perhaps all the above. They may not just run away but also run into a life of sin, self-pleasing and rebellion against God.
“Who knows really what corrodes the soul to the point where it disintegrates?”
This quote is taken from Carey Nieuwhof’s latest book Didn’t See It Coming. In it, Nieuwhof describes the “seven greatest challenges that no one expects and everyone experiences.” The seven challenges are: cynicism, compromise, disconnection, irrelevance, pride, burnout and emptiness.
The title of Lysa Terkeurst’s new book, It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way, immediately caught my attention and I knew I would be adding it to my “must read” list. She asks, “What do you do when God’s timing seems questionable, his lack of intervention hurtful and his promises doubtful?” Read more
Don’t say it can never happen to you. It almost happened to me. I was in a particularly vulnerable time of my life, feeling emotionally distant from my family, betrayed and confused, without a safe place to unburden myself. Read more
It all began innocently enough. As a teen, I was interested in photography and picked up a black and white glamour photography magazine – beautiful nudes, faceless, graceful forms. My father spotted it in my room one day and shook his head at me in disgust: “What’s wrong with you? This will put you on the road to hell!” Read more
I’ve been thinking of a small section of Scripture lately. Right after the killing of Stephen, we read in Acts 8:1:
“. . . On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”
These believers did not respond to persecution as the old heroes of faith did, by willingly laying down their lives. No, they ran! Read more
We receive a lot of calls from pastors who struggle with depression. Here are some common symptoms of depression, plus guidance on what to do if you suspect depression has invaded your life. Read more
Recently I had one of those “aha” moments that causes you to sit back, take stock and re-evaluate your life. Being relatively new to social media, it was refreshing to discover how many friends I had on Facebook. That is until I scrolled down and discovered that many of them were unknown strangers. Read more
The older I get, the more I understand about loss simply because I have experienced it more. If I had written this article when I was 20, I may have had a few valuable things to say, but I wouldn’t have really known what I was writing about.
Generally, when we speak of loss, we think of the physical death of someone we’ve loved. Most of us know the ache of saying goodbye to someone precious. I understand that kind of loss; I’ve lost my father, my mother, my brother and several dear friends. These were deep, life-changing losses for me.
But loss is so much broader than just physical death. Read more
Good leaders don’t always advance, sometimes they retreat.
Great leaders retreat really well.
Escaping the pressure of leadership for a time of evaluation and recalibration is critical. Good leaders know this. In my context, the pastors I most respect who have done some of the most profound work for the kingdom are the ones who have learned the art of retreating well. They make it a habit and they don’t violate the practice. Read more