A sense of justice that transcends culture and time is hardwired into all of us. We don’t like inequity. Our blood boils when we see one person oppressing another just because they’ve got more power or prestige. When Tony and I were raising our kids, our middle daughter was acutely tuned into justice—family style. Whenever [...]
Vacation season has begun. Many will be heading out to various destinations—cell phones and sunscreen in hand—excited to see and experience new things. Some of us will travel great distances and enter a totally different culture for a few days or weeks; others will take their vacations closer to home. Whether we revisit familiar places [...]
My son Sky has always liked machines and big challenges. One vivid memory I have is of him driving our tractor across the field as Tony and I threw bales onto the hay wagon. Sky was only six or seven years old, so his feet barely reached the pedals. But he was grinning from ear [...]
“They were terrified and asked each other, 'Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!'” (Mark 4:41) Every disciple of Jesus must grapple with this question – not just at the beginning of our relationship with Him, but at every stage following. Who is He? And how does that knowledge impact my [...]
What would be our reaction if a Christian speaker stood up and began to declare all the reasons why we shouldn’t become a Christian? Picture it. The speaker pleads with us, not to come forward on the next chorus, but to think more about the decision before giving our lives to Jesus. He points out [...]
I don’t live in the same town with some of my grandchildren, which means I only get to see them every year or so. Sometimes it’s even longer. I’m not happy about that … how far we live from one another … but the infrequency of our visits does give me a better perspective on [...]
When I was a preteen I used to go to major league baseball games with my aunt and uncle. They lived in the Kansas City area and were die-hard Athletics fans. It was fun to tag along, learning from them the players’ names, what their strengths and weaknesses were, and which visiting teams posed the [...]
Try as we may, even Christians have a hard time tuning out our culture’s attitudes and values. We know we aren’t supposed to “let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould” (Romans 12:1, Phillips translation), but … over and over again … we find ourselves being drawn in. Instead of measuring ourselves against [...]
Adventuring with God 