Blogs » Family and Relationships 
Posted: 5:26 am on April 18, 2013 Be the first to comment on this post
When Someone Can’t Control You Anymore
Sometimes in life, there are relationships that we hold very dear to us – especially family relationships. They seem to go along smoothly and we can’t ever imagine things being different. Changing. But they do. You grow up. You change your opinions. You evolve into your own person. And things start to shift.
It’s subtle at first, but the more you find your own voice and purpose, oftentimes, the more you notice the shifting ground. Things aren’t as comfortable anymore. Differences of opinion
Read full posttags: depression, friendships, family, self esteem, relationships, control, fear, family relationships, image, family dynamics
Posted: 9:34 pm on November 13, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
Striving for Joy Over Happiness
If you have been alive for longer than five minutes, you will know what I mean when I say, “Don’t Worry! Be Happy!”
Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, that seemed to be a good motto to live by. It’s not that hard to do if you only focus on what makes you feel happy. At least that idea lasts until you get to high school, as it is then that real world stresses start to creep in, and finding what makes you happy becomes more complicated.
Happiness is a feeling. It can last for seconds, hours
Read full posttags: marriage, hope, happiness, joy, spiritual discipline
Posted: 8:41 am on September 06, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
When We Try to Go Through Tough Stuff Alone
Going at life “solo” is dangerous.
I’ve seen it happen time and time again. You grow frustrated with your church and so you stop going. You drop out of your ladies Bible Study or pull away from your friends because tough stuff is going on in your life. Whatever the reason; suddenly, we have put ourselves in a position of great vulnerability. Not that Satan doesn’t like to attack us in any kind of situation; but I think he finds us an especially easy target when we are going at life alone
Read full posttags: death, divorce, depression, loneliness, friendships, illness
Posted: 5:47 am on June 17, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
A Father’s Day Prayer for Our Children
How do we pray for our children?
Here’s Paul’s powerful prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23, worded with a focus on a father’s prayer for his children.
Praying Ephesians 1:15-23 for Our Children
15For this reason, I pray for my children’s faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints,
16I have not stopped giving thanks for my children, remembering them in my prayers.
17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give my children the spirit of
Read full posttags: prayer, parenting, children, Paul, fathers
Posted: 11:52 am on May 31, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
God Is in the Storm
I have a former church member who remains a very close friend of mine even today.
This man is going through some very terrible trials right now. Before I was called into the ministry, this man was our worship music leader. He is such a strong Christian man who has been blessed with eight children and nine grandchildren. Even though we don’t attend the same church anymore, I still see him and I remain on my old church’s Prayer Chain.
Up until two years ago, this man and his family had
Read full postPosted: 9:23 pm on May 12, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
Life Is Like a Baby Ruth Bar
“You’ve been WHERE?” Those are three words I will never forget hearing from my mom when I decided to take a little shopping trip on my own-at AGE THREE! Mom was never one to let me out of her sight, but one afternoon, I found two minutes of freedom and I took full advantage.
We had been sitting in the driveway when the phone rang. Mom ran inside, but not before turning to me and commanding, “Don’t Move.” The next thing I remember, I was walking to the neighborhood store that was six blocks
Read full posttags: parenting, obedience, Mothers Day
Posted: 5:56 am on April 04, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
Don’t Landscape the Lives Around You, Practice Love.
Jesus – friend of Sinners, how I love that title! For so long it has been a personal testament to me, that Christ would be the friend of someone so obviously imperfect and broken. It is now a song title, in a new single from Casting Crowns.
Being a friend to the sinner and loving everyone unconditionally is the most radical aspects of Jesus’ ministry. It is the one that made so many people uneasy: that the Creator of the Universe would stoop so low to forgive and partake in life with
Read full posttags: love, discipleship, relationships, judgment
Posted: 7:18 pm on February 22, 2012 6 Comments
God Has a Good Heart
I enjoyed an amazing week last week at the Faith Biblical Counseling Training Conference at Faith Church in Lafayette, Indiana.
What was the highlight for me?
Was Equipping the Highlight?
As much as I enjoyed my six teaching times (I always love equipping biblical counselors), that wasn’t my highlight experience.
However, if you want links to those teaching times and the PowerPoint presentations:
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The Anatomy of Anxiety Track 4 and 6 Post, Track 4 PowerPoint, and Track 6
tags: hope, biblical counseling, grief, abuse, Vision of Hope
Posted: 8:43 pm on February 04, 2012 1 Comment
Greater Love Has No Man
My seminary professor once told me about a father whose young son was constantly in trouble. He was continuously getting in trouble…so one day, the father went upstairs to find his son getting into things that he was told not to mess with. When the boy saw his father, he instantly knew that he was in trouble. Slowly the father took off his belt. He took his shirt off and then ask the boy to give him 10 lashes with the belt. The boy started crying and said he couldn’t do it. The father
Read full posttags: love, Jesus, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day, Calvary
Posted: 7:00 am on February 03, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
Personal Identity, Spiritual Identity, Family Identity
I was talking to some young moms at my church in the not-too-distant past. I was sharing with them the three things that I felt were most important in building a child. They are their personal identity, spiritual identity, and family identity.
These 3 things are the anchors in every child’s life. They are the things that will give them roots when the rest of the world is uprooted. They will give a strong foundation to a person instead of allowing them to feel as if they are standing on
Read full posttags: parenting, self esteem, spiritual identity, spiritual legacy, heritage, personal identity
Posted: 10:51 pm on January 21, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
We Need More (Holy) Jealousy
Jealousy.
Doesn’t it just sound awful? It sounds creepy to me, like something that is the catalyst for domestic abuse. It doesn’t sound healthy for a relationship. The band Better than Ezra sings about it in the song "Rosealia":
Jealousy can rip your heart out.
And jealousy can turn a hand into a fist.
But yet, in Deuteronomy 4:24 from The Message, it says:
God, your God, is not to be trifled with—he's a consuming fire, a jealous God.
As Nancy Leigh DeMoss says, in her message
Read full postPosted: 9:47 pm on January 08, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
Dying for Company
Nursing homes are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. There are literally thousands of people today living in nursing homes who have never had anyone visit them once. A great number of them never receive visitors. And many of these residents will die within the first two years of living there. Are these two facts related? Are people literally dying for company? I believe there is strong correlation that this is true.
Today, there are over 1.5 million
tags: death, outreach, Christ, visitation, nursing homes
Posted: 6:46 am on January 05, 2012 Be the first to comment on this post
The Ministry of Martha
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My beloved wife’s name is Martha. She would be upset with me if she knew I wrote this about her. Her ministry is more than a pastor’s wife. It is truly the work of the Lord, Jesus Christ. My wife’s name not only means “a lady”, it is a reflection of Jesus’ heart. She is indeed the hands and feet of Christ. Not only does she help abandoned animals, donates to the poor, gives extra time for struggling students, but she helps those abandoned by society. For the last year or more she has
tags: Jesus, ministry, cancer, wife
Posted: 10:29 pm on December 08, 2011 4 Comments
Parenting Minute By Minute
My girls were in a Christian school. Then we took them out and put them in public school for 3 years. Now they are back at a Christian school. No one decision that we made concerning their schooling was necessarily wrong – it seemed like the right direction at the time.
There are books and books on parenting. Some very good ones. But no one book can tell you the exact way you should go for your family. It seems like there is always a “different” scenario when it comes to your individual
Read full posttags: parenting, education, children, family
Posted: 9:29 pm on November 09, 2011 2 Comments
You Might Be a Christian If . . .
Much is made in Scripture and throughout Church history about correct worship, teaching and how to live as a faithful follower of Christ. But what are those fundamentals that we can all agree on? Catholic or Protestant, there are a few "non-negiotables" that we, as the Church of God, need to adhere to. Not only for the prosperity of the Church, but for the success of our own lives in Christ. When we stray from these, when we fight over the details, we lose the opportunity to join God in
Read full posttags: discipleship, Christianity
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