Think You Don’t Have a Purpose in Life?

Psalm 139 is one of the most inspiring Psalms in Scripture and it was the inspiration for my book Waking Up Slowly. We don’t know when David wrote this stirring account of God’s indescribable attributes. Some believe he wrote it as a shepherd while gazing at the stars and the enormity of the heavens. Some feel he wrote it when he became king over Israel. As a more experienced human being myself it certainly feels like David had to have lived a little more life in order to write such a majestic dialog with God. But the truth is we just don’t know. In this amazing Psalm David made three observations about the greatness of God. God knows everything about us. God is everywhere we are. God ordains everything about you. One thing the Psalmist clearly proclaims is that we are not accidents and there is a purpose for you and me. You know me inside and out,    you know every
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Truths I Wish I’d Known in High School

In just a couple of weeks I will be traveling to my hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio to celebrate my 50th High School Reunion. Wow! That is a lot of mileage on the life odometer and you can’t roll it back. A few years ago my great-niece asked my advice about navigating the emotional ups and downs of the high school years. Here is what I told her. 1.    I wish I had known that my high school years did not define me for life My teen years were a mixed bag of memorable highs and incredible lows. Now I realize that I am grateful for what I once considered some of the difficult moments of my life. In many of those spiritual valleys you could not have begun to convince me that God was molding me or that those experiences could ever be of value. Had I been the coolest guy or the best athlete I most likely would not have developed a sensitive spirit
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You Are Not an Accident!

Psalm 139 is one of the most inspiring Psalms in Scripture and it was the inspiration for my book Waking Up Slowly. We don’t know when David wrote this stirring account of God’s indescribable attributes. Some believe he wrote it as a shepherd while gazing at the stars and the enormity of the heavens. Some feel he wrote it when he became king over Israel. As a more experienced human being myself it certainly feels like David had to have lived a little more life in order to write such a majestic dialog with God. But the truth is we just don’t know. In this amazing Psalm David made three observations about the greatness of God. God knows everything about us. God is everywhere we are. God ordains everything about you. The Psalmist clearly proclaims that we are not accidents and there is a purpose for you and me. You know me inside and out,    you know every bone in my
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Lessons from Covid Class

Life is full of wonderful moments and blessings. Life also has it’s share of dark valleys and scary storms. None of us gets out of this life unscathed. In the valleys of my life I have taught myself to step back and ask this question. What can God teach me in this trial about Him or about myself? This seemingly never ending Covid pandemic has been rife with lessons. Lesson #1 Control freaks have learned a really hard truth from Covid-19. It doesn’t matter one whit how much money, power, or prestige you had accumulated by March of 2020 because Covid rudely stole your ability to control your life. It is funny to search the term “control freak” on the internet and find that so many people try to paint being a controlling person as a positive. I have worked with control freaks and I can tell you the experience for those around them is not pleasant. It is a
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Can We Quit Pointing Fingers?

I recently tuned my satellite radio to see what was going in Washington (D)ysfunctional (C)hildren). Within a minute I regretted my decision. Both sides were attacking and demeaning the other’s motives, integrity, and decency. My mood turned sour. Then I flipped to another channel and the first song I heard was a duet from Mandisa and TobyMac. These lyrics immediately grabbed my heart. Are you left?Are you right?Pointing fingers, taking sidesWhen are we gonna realize? We all bleed the sameWe’re more beautiful when we come togetherWe all bleed the sameSo tell me why, tell me whyWe’re divided. Why indeed? One thing I am sure of is that hateful rhetoric never, ever, ever changes a heart. Followers of Christ have a message of hope and light that is desperately needed. But we get caught up in the politics of our world and too often snuff out that light. I have been guilty more than I care to think about. I fear our culture will
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Can I Trust God’s Directions as much as my GPS?

My lovely wife returned from a luncheon engagement with an insight I was more than willing to borrow. “My GPS took me on a path that was completely counter-intuitive to me.” Joni reported. “I even wondered if I had entered the wrong destination. I learned later that there was a major slowdown on the normal route and this strange path got me there on time. The GPS could see things I could not and knew how to get me there. I began to think I do the same thing with God. I wonder about the path He has me on and if He knows how to get me to the place I want to be. But He sees things I cannot and I need to trust Him more.” I love that metaphor. I think part of the answer is that we fail to recognize how big our God really is. I am going to borrow a bit from my book
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