Trust By Association

I’m just emerging from a very difficult year and some months of adjustment.  I joined a ministry in August, 2007, in a vaguely defined role that wasn’t really wanted or appreciated by those who it was created to serve.  It was really important that my role not be forced upon them, because the organization was/is [...]

No Need to Rush…You’ve Got Some Time

Poster seen in my hotel in Dhaka – 090214.
(My apologies to my Bangladeshi brothers and sisters.  I mean no disrespect…just think this is a unique and somewhat odd marketing campaign.  But you’ve got to hand it to them…they are working whatever angles they have at the moment.)

Matching Emotion with Concern

While sitting in one of the most boring seminars of my life, I was surprised to learn something that has added years (maybe decades) to my marriage.  It’s the principle of matching emotion with concern.
You see, for much of my early marriage, I had it all wrong.  When my wife and I would get into [...]

Unforgiveness

The letter that Paul wrote to Philemon is a strange inclusion in the New Testament.  It’s short.  Just one chapter and 25 verses.  It seems to simply be Paul intervening on behalf of a new friend who has had a conflict with his master (Onesimus was Philemon’s slave).
But try reading it as if it were [...]

R.U.T.S.

R.U.T.S.   The grooves that wear into relationships.  The kind of grooves that lock us into destructive patterns of behavior with those around us.
R.U.T.S. are related to the stories we tell ourselves about other people.  They are S.I.F.T. stories, not S.W.I.F.T. stories, and they are powerful.  R.U.T.S. are why you always end up in a fight [...]