At a coffee meeting, Pastor Sean lamented to me, “Another key leader left my church. I’ll probably never see him again.” “Why do you say that?” I asked. “I’ve been through this before. I can tell by the way he left. He just told me, ‘It’s time for us to move on.’ He wouldn’t elaborate.” “How…
People get angry in different ways. You may raise your voice. Or react with harsh words. Or gossip negatively about someone. Or carry resentment. Or stonewall someone who has offended you. Or get depressed. Or you can follow the example of the Psalmist and offer an angry prayer. The Psalmist shows us how to deal…
“I feel invisible,” Angelica’s face sunk with her words. “My husband doesn’t even see me. He’s so focused on his work, his ministry projects, what he wants to do. There’s no room for me in our relationship…” After listening to her awhile, I felt like she was invisible! Really. My office was filled with his…
What do you hate the most about yourself? What is the thing about you that most frustrates and embarrasses you? The thing you wish you could change but can’t? At Soul Shepherding we care for pastors and recently they’ve confessed: “My ambition is causing me to neglect my wife.” “We keep pumping up our successes…
Gentled by grace. That’s the incredible and inspiring story of Abba Moses the Black. He was a violent thief who became a humble and kind monk and one of the great Desert Fathers who served the Lord Jesus Christ in the 4th Century. From his life we see an example of how we can overcome our…
I took Briana, age 18, on a “Daddy Date” to an Angels’ baseball game. We got shut out, but we enjoyed being together. We shared a meal and snacks from our perch on the very top row behind home plate. We talked about all sorts of things and we reminisced on the fun times we had…
“We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). This is the Valentine’s Day message that Kristi wrote on the chalkboard in our powder room. It’s also the foundation of Gary Smalley’s talk on Guarding Your Heart in Ministry that we enjoyed together the day before Valentine’s Day. He taught on Jesus’ treasure principle:…
“Forgive and forget,” some say. “Just let it go to God and move on,” urge others. Often it’s not that easy. Maybe you grew up in a family in which it wasn’t okay to express anger. Or the pain and violation seem too great. Or you’re not sure how to forgive. Read on and you’ll…
What do we learn from Jesus about anger in the Bible? Jesus’ way of dealing with anger is quite different than what we think today. If we learn to deal with anger in the way that Jesus taught and modeled we’ll find that we’re living more and more in God’s peace. The way of Christ…
“Cease from anger” the Psalmist counsels us (Psalm 37:8). “Get rid of all anger” the New Testament echoes (Ephesians 4:31). Throughout the Bible we are cautioned about our anger. And many Psalms, particularly the Cursing Psalms, show us how to deal with anger in a wise and godly way. But it seems that few people…