I'll admit, I'm a fan of old Saturday Night Live skits. One of my favorites is Al Frankin's character "Stuart Smalley." "I'm gonna do a terrific show today," Stuart would tell himself,  "and I'm gonna help people...because I'm good enough, I'm strong enough, and doggone it, people like me!" We get a kick out of "Stuart" as he scratches our itch to feel good about ourselves-but this character's mantra brings out a fundamental question: How do you measure the worth of a human being? Culture has a lot to say on this issue, but what society tells us about ourselves is often based Continue Reading

Ever run across something on social media that you find to be both super annoying and grossly inaccurate? (Like, all the time?) My general stance with regard to social media is, "Don't engage with the outrage." There's enough toxicity out there already. If I'm going to contribute something, it needs to add value. It may offer a challenge, but it should ultimately encourage someone as well. Last week, I had the opportunity to put this into practice. I'd been seeing a cartoon passed around on Twitter of a man holding an umbrella over the belly of a very pregnant woman, as though Continue Reading

I was trying to finish a task at work, but my introvert brain kept getting derailed by a phone conversation in the adjoining office. I closed my door so I could concentrate. This wasn’t the first time I’d done this, which is why my extroverted co-worker remarked, “You close your door because you hate me!” Somehow, her joke didn’t come across as humorous. If I need space, I “hate” you? Really? Like that scene at the office, the label “hater” in our politically correct culture is thrown around far too quickly—ironically, often by folks who otherwise object to name-calling. What Continue Reading

"Jim" was the lead pastor of a popular mega-church. He was well-known by the media, wrote numerous books, and spoke at many conferences. I liked his teaching, and I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. Our friends knew another pastoral staff member at that church. This person's job, our friends explained, involved an inordinate amount of mopping up emotional messes which the lead pastor had left behind. The pastor lacked a certain character quality --a lack which eventually caused his resignation. With our Western cultural paradigm, we value strong, decisive leaders. We want Continue Reading