When Lisa heard about Crystal’s ongoing difficulties, she knew just what to do. She’d just read an article which had lifted her spirits. Sure that this was God’s timing, Lisa forwarded the article link to Crystal, along with a favorite Scripture reference and another link to a video of an encouraging sermon. Lisa felt good about helping her friend. What she didn’t realize is that her “help” actually made things worse for Crystal. “How can that be?” you may ask. “Aren’t Christians supposed to encourage one another?” Well, that depends. Let’s use a helpful analogy. Research shows Continue Reading
One Surprising Way you can Experience the Love of God
I looked around the room at the people gathered for our five-year high school reunion (yes, it was a number of years ago) and recognized a familiar face. “Cindy” had been in my philosophy class as a senior. I had prayed for her, and several other classmates, off and on since graduating, particularly because she did not profess faith in Christ. She’d remained on my heart. I was glad to see her. “Hi, Cindy,” I greeted her, smiling. She looked at me blankly. Slowly, recognition dawned on her face. “Oh, I remember you!” she finally said. I had carried a burden for Cindy for five Continue Reading
Why I’m Taking a Writing Break (and what I hope that does for you)
Ever have that moment when you realize you’re so out of juice that you can’t seem to work up any inspiration or energy, even for the things you love? These days, I find myself rubbing my head and staring at a blank Word document, then at the hand-written list of potential blog post topics which I keep on hand. Aaaaand … nada. None of it compels me forward. Nothing inspires me enough to put words to paper (except these few words to let you know what’s going on). I’ve blogged for six years now. Besides maintaining my own blog, where I write about church and culture, spiritual Continue Reading
Why There’s Good News even when you don’t “Crush it”
The young woman offering us customer service was pleasant and upbeat. She assured us that our billing issues with her company would be promptly resolved. Image by James Chan from Pixabay When I noticed the following month that our bill continued to climb, I contacted her again. She assured me once again that, of course, she would take care of the problem right away. It's been three months’ worth of attempts now, and the problem still hasn’t been resolved. I noticed something interesting in my interactions with this young woman. Her confident, positive, can-do attitude is typical Continue Reading