Bystander Apathy

In 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered while 38 neighbors watched and/or listened but did nothing to help. No one even called the police. Most of the public were shocked when they read the report in the news. They couldn’t understand how so many could witness a brutal murder and do nothing to prevent it.
Researchers have [...]

The Pump Is Dry

A leader in the organization I work with tells the story of walking down a dusty road in Texas.  As he approached a hill, he could hear a terrible squealing and grinding coming from the other side.  When he reached the top of the hill, he saw where the noise was coming from.
There, in a [...]

What’s Stopping You?

  Martin Strel had a goal to swim the
Amazon River, but it wasn’t going to just let
  him conquer it without a fight…3,272 miles…
    man-eating aligators…venomnous and life-
     choking snakes…flesh-eating piranhas…
dreaded candiru (a.k.a. toothpick or vampire
  fish) that swim into body orifices to suck
    blood and eat tissue and that can prove
       fatal…menacing bull sharks…strength-
      stealing whirlpools [...]

Nightmare on the River Kwai

So, there I was, standing in my underwear in a room full of people, and I thought to myself, “This is not how I expected this evening to turn out.”
I know what you’re saying, “Been there.  Done that.  Got the under shirt,” but this was a new experience for me.  Well, not really.  I’ve had [...]

No Waiting

What are we waiting for?  Some Christians treat Earth like it’s a waiting room for Heaven.  Too many of us are sitting around waiting for our name to be called.  We take comfort in the knowledge that the Great Physician knows we are here.  We think we just need to mind our own business and [...]

Shadow Mission

Beneath our mission for God lies our shadow mission. All Christians have one. Some give in to it, and some don’t, but it lurks beneath the surface nonetheless.
A shadow mission is something that is deeply important to us but that leads us away from God’s purposes for our lives. It’s typically just a few degrees [...]

One-Up; One-Down

There is a game I hate to play.
It does my selfish heart betray
And leads me from my walk to stray
Along a mean and judging way.
“One-Up; One-Down” is the name
Of this universal game,
And it deserves to take the blame
For what should be the Christian’s shame.
It’s played when you first meet a man
And let your eyes his [...]

Spiritual Oxygen

I’m at a spiritual retreat in Shangri-La, China, this week. It’s at 10,000 feet in mountains in the south part of China, and the air here is pretty thin. Some of the members of my group have really been struggling with altitude sickness, which causes headaches and nausea.
This morning, I woke up with a pretty [...]

Wrong Turns

A friend of mine has a GPS, called the Verizon Navigator.  It helps her when she’s driving around to know how to make it to her destination, and she was excited to get it, because following directions is not one of her spiritual gifts. 
The GPS audibly tells her where to turn and how far to [...]

Shallow Roots

Trees that have shallow roots are typically found in places where there is plenty of water near the surface. They never have to grow deep roots, because they never lack for sufficient moisture.
There are two problems with trees that have shallow roots:
1. They require constant watering.
2. It doesn’t take much to blow them over.
Most of [...]