Welcome to a blog mini-series! For the next three weeks, we're going to examine nine core values common to our culture. These values negatively affect our relationships every day.  They hugely influence the way we see ourselves and others in terms of worth and acceptance, how we relate to each other, and how we cope with the pain life brings us. By the end of this series, I hope you'll be able to recognize these patterns -- and with God's help, swim upstream against their influence. You'll find most of these paradigms in "The Immersion Experience," a curriculum by Dr. David Continue Reading

I have a confession to make.   Just recently, I mindlessly clicked, commented and shared on a post about the supposed poor response of a pastor to an issue in his church (a large and well-known one).   The next morning, I received a message from a friend explaining the other side of the story, with several links to other posts. I had acted before I had looked at both sides of the issue, or even thought much about it.   You've probably never done that, right?   It seems even easier to do this with mega-churches. Kind of like our conscience doesn't bother us much Continue Reading

It was beautiful and creepy at the same time. We walked the pristine grounds for three hours, watching swans sail on the pond, wandering down row upon row of Camellias in their final bloom, strolling around manicured lawns and rose gardens surrounding the original Middleton Plantation house.Under the oaks facing the river, a string quartet warmed up for a wedding. Such a serene setting. Such an unlikely place for injustice and brutality. We knew if the land could speak, it must have some chilling tales to tell. The swamps thick with cypress trees, the clumps of cane, the river and the Continue Reading