Brennan Manning insisted “the God-revelation of Jesus” removes fear and worry. Yet, he also admitted to a fear of abandonment going back to his childhood. Worse, at the end of his life, in his memoir All is Grace, Manning confessed: “I’ve been a priest, then an ex-priest. Husband, then ex-husband. Amazed crowds one night and…
“I’m here because my husband thinks I have a drinking problem,” said Lisa (not her real name). “And he’s crazy! I have my drinking under control.” But Lisa clearly displayed symptoms of addiction: Her alcohol intake had increased. She drank alone. She used wine to deal with stress. Her drinking caused family conflicts. She didn’t…
We learn in the Bible that “Without a vision people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). This is true for you and I today. In 1952 Florence Chadwick wanted to be the first woman to swim the 26 miles from Catalina island to San Pedro on mainland California. She’d already been the first woman to swim the English…
We offer a free Internet Addiction Test to help you see if you (or a loved one) might have an Internet addiction and need help breaking free. I developed the acronym “A-N A-D-D-I-C-T” as a simple screening tool to identify compulsive behavior problems. Here it’s applied to Internet use, which refers to whatever you do online including…
It’s ironic that the more we long for Jesus — to know him intimately and love him fully — the more we are deeply satisfied. Most things in life don’t work that way. If you cultivate a craving for chocolate you’re likely to keep eating it and gain weight or get sick to your stomach!…
Peter observed a dog returning to its vomit and a pig going back to wallow in the mud and God showed him that people can be like that! (2 Peter 2:22) It’s easy to read Peter’s words and start judging people who are foolish. Why does she keep struggling with that? What’s the matter with…
Over the years I’ve talked with many people, including pastors and ministry leaders, who are caught in the snares of a compulsive behavior. They keep trying to stop but can’t. No matter how guilty they feel or how hard they try they haven’t been able to get free. Hope for Struggling Pastors The ministry of…
Excerpted from Follow Jesus on the Stations of the Cross There is comfort for you in the cross of Christ if you seek it properly. My heart has been warmed and my life re-shaped by the stories of Jesus and his cross during Holy Week. I invite you to join me on the life-changing journey of…
We think our heart is our feelings. So we contrast our head and heart to differentiate thinking and feeling. But in the Biblical understanding our heart is our will, our capacity for choice, the center of our being that is our orientation for life. Our heart is our spirit that animates our personality; it is…
I met Lisa (not her real name) because her husband insisted that she talk with me. He said she had a drinking problem. Of course, she thought he was crazy! Lisa was raised by a Baptist pastor. She was religious and she was also a good mother to her school-aged girls – except when she was…