I come from a family of poor gift-givers. When I was first married, the Christmas gifts I gave to my wife, Stephanie, contained too many appliances that we needed for our home. I could have done a much better job of buying her things that were more personal and meaningful to her.

The sad truth is this trait has been passed down from generation to generation in my family. Several years ago, about a week before Christmas, my father placed a large, wrapped box under the Christmas tree for my mom. She was excited when she saw it because dad usually doesn’t buy gifts that are this big. Since mom had told dad she wanted new dishes, she convinced herself this box contained new plates, saucers, bowls and cups. Throughout the days leading up to Christmas, mom’s expectations grew. (more…)

Maintaining a happy and healthy marriage is one of the hardest things we will ever have to do. We’re full of love, forgiveness and optimism when we say “I do” and we think our marriages will always be like this. While marriages can and should always have these qualities, the simple truth is our attitudes and feelings can change as the years go by. The pressures of careers, children, finances and getting older put new stresses on relationships. This can cause love, forgiveness and optimism to erode and be replaced with some selfishness, complacency and perhaps even a little bitterness. One of the reasons this happens is because of the way our relationships develop. When we’re dating, we are typically on our best behavior. Many people even try to hide some of their little flaws and imperfections from the other person. Once we’re married and living together, the truth comes out. We realize the person we married isn’t quite as perfect as we may have originally thought. As a saying from an anonymous author states, “Love is blind, and marriage is the eye-opener.” This brings us to an interesting question. Once the realities of life set in, should I assume taking my spouse for granted and allowing our marriage to plateau or even decline is normal? We see it happen with many of the couples around us. Does it have to happen in our marriages? (more…)

Several years ago I got myself into trouble by letting my thoughts drift to other things instead of paying attention to what I was doing – driving. As a result, I ended up driving 70 MPH in a 55 MPH speed zone. This caught the attention of a Virginia state policeman who pulled me over and gave me a speeding ticket. While getting the ticket was bad enough, it got worse. First of all, it just so happened that my mother-in-law was in the vehicle with me when I got pulled over. She was nice about the whole situation and never mentioned it again but let’s be honest. Who really wants to get a ticket while your mother-in-law is riding with you? Second, while the officer was writing me the ticket, he began telling me how he was doing me a favor by stopping me because it might have been devastating if I hit a deer at 70 MPH. I honestly didn’t need to hear that. And third, when I got home I would need to tell my wife, Stephanie,  about the ticket. While I knew she wouldn’t be mad about it, I didn’t know what her reaction would be. (more…)

*As you read this blog, please also read the scripture references in their entirety.

In Matthew 22:34-40, the Pharisees are trying to trick Jesus into saying something wrong so they ask him to tell them which commandment in the Old Testament Law was the greatest. Jesus replied it is to “Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind….And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Vs. 37-39). As we think about Jesus words, let us ask ourselves this question: “Am I more focused on loving God and others or am I more focused on loving myself?”

To help us answer this question, let’s pretend there are three different chairs before us which could describe our relationship with Jesus. The first chair is the chair of Commitment. The characteristics of people who sit in this chair are:

Actions: Loves People, Uses Things / Knows God, Knows His Works

Attitude: God First, Me Second

Description: Spiritual, Hot, Whole Heart for God

Examples: Abraham, Hannah, Peter (more…)

While there are many things I miss about being a full-time logger, there are just as many things  I don’t miss. One thing I don’t miss is the way we were constantly dealing with mud during the winter and early spring. I vividly remember one time when it was so bad that not only did it soil my coveralls, it also soaked into my work uniform and even my underwear. All I could do at this point was remove the dirty clothes, take a shower and put on “new” clothes.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3:1-17 this is what happens to us when we become followers of Jesus Christ. We remove the stain of our sins and rebellious attitudes towards God  by removing our old selves, being washed in the blood of Christ and putting on our new self. When this happens, we are to show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love to each other. Basically we understand through our years of following Jesus that this is what God expects of us. However, I have a question we with which we all need to wrestle:

Do I show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love to myself? (more…)

In her book, Your Inner You, Leslie Flynn tells of a mother who was peeling vegetables for a salad when her daughter, home from college, casually mentioned she was going to a questionable movie that evening. The mother quickly picked up a handful of garbage and threw it in the salad. “Mother!” said the shocked girl. “You’re putting garbage in the salad.”

“I know,” replied the mother, “but I thought that if you didn’t mind garbage in your mind, certainly you wouldn’t mind a little in your stomach.”

This story makes a valid point about the importance of guarding our minds, especially if we are followers of Jesus Christ. Why is it important to guard our minds?  It’s because our thoughts determine our actions. If we want to live a sinful lifestyle, all we need to do is think sinful thoughts. If we truly want to be faithful to Jesus and live a Christian lifestyle then we need to think like he does. (more…)

Please take a minute and think about the following question: What approach am I taking to make myself a better person?

After all, everyone  of us has faults, weaknesses and we struggle with sin. What are we doing to overcome these obstacles which keep us from reaching our full potential as humans and, at times, keep us beat down in life? (more…)

Luke 1 sets the stage for the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It begins with the angel Gabriel telling Zechariah the priest that his wife, Elizabeth, will have a son. They are to name their son John and he will be a prophet who will bring many of the people in Israel back to the Lord their God. He will also prepare the people for the coming of their Savior.

The story continues in Luke 1:26-45: In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (more…)

Let’s start out by doing a little exercise (no – not that kind of exercise). In the next 20 seconds, please write down on a sheet of paper 3 things God is doing right now in your life, family, community or church.

Could you list 3 things? 2 things? or even 1 thing God is doing? If we can’t list 3 things God is doing, then we’re missing what’s happening right in front of us. Unfortunately, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence among God’s people. The same thing happened when Jesus was born. (more…)

The first Sunday of Advent focuses on hope. As followers of Jesus Christ, we understand our hope is to be in him and not in our own abilities or in our circumstances. Even though we understand this is what the Bible teaches us, we’re still faced with a serious question: What exactly does “hope” in Jesus look like? Is the hope we have in Jesus the same as when we hope to do a good job or when we hope to find something we’ve lost? The New International Dictionary of the Bible says hope in Jesus is much deeper than this. It states “the biblical concept of hope is not mere expectation and desire… but includes trust, confidence, and refuge in the God of hope (Rom. 15:13).” (more…)