Words of Life

I remember when I played in the NFL under Coach Bill Parcells. One of the first things he did when we came to training camp was adjust our stance. The stance for a football player is the starting point. It’s how you get ready before you go. But Coach wanted…

Some time ago my dad wrote the book Can You Stand to Be Blessed? I was too young to read it when it released, but as I’m typing this, I can hear the title ringing so clearly in my mind. I want to confront the part of you that will…

The person whom God guides is the person who depends on his grace. It is not always easy to trust God. But it is always right to—because he promises his grace to those who trust him, a grace that knows no limits. Throughout Psalm 25 David talks about God’s deliverance,…

If you’ve bought the lie that you’re not going to make it, the Enemy is at your table. This voice tells you that life is hopeless. There’s no way out. May as well just chuck it all, quit, and die. So often when we are asked how things are going,…

Israel spent a total of forty years in the desert, but they wandered as punishment for their unbelief for thirty-eight years (Deut. 2:14). This is significant because it ties into an often-overlooked detail that is vital to understand the healing Jesus performed at the pool of Bethesda. After this there…

There’s an old bumper sticker that says, “God is my co-pilot.” I’m sure whoever came up with that meant well, but it’s terribly misguided because it implies that we are in the pilot seat when the reality is that this arrangement is a recipe for disaster. If you want to…

If you ever saw her picture, you surely would remember it for the rest of your life. It gained fame in the 1970s as an anti-war icon when a photographer took her picture as she was running naked from a napalm bombing attack in Vietnam. The nine-year-old girl whose picture…

A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great. PROVERBS 18:16 Holiness is often hidden—no, I take that back—is often showcased in a child. Take the time I was in an airport drugstore in Hawaii. Ken was at the ticket counter, and…

I recently ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. I know she’s been going through a tumultuous time, so after some brief small talk I said, “Friend, can I ask, how’s your heart?” That’s when her guard came down and she shared all the ways it…

It has been three years. Last night I remembered the final vigil, holding one of her soft hands with its delicately curved fingers while my sister held the other and we waited with each breath, both longing for her release and guiltily grateful that it wasn’t quite yet, that we…