Ever wonder how words lose their meaning? I have. I think of how society redefines things to suit their current thinking. But this isn't a new phenomena at all. We humans do this all the time. In fact, a famous president of the United States defended himself from serious charges by reminding his questioners "It…
Listen to this quote from St. Peter of Damaskos: “Patient endurance kills the despair that kills the soul; it teaches the soul to take comfort and not to grow listless in the face of its many battles and afflictions." Wow, "the despair that kills the soul." How often have I seen that in the people who…
Why all the drama? OK, I have to confess, I am no fan of drama for drama's sake, and I'm in the house with two daughters who excel in drama! "She touched me" "She's looking at me" WHAT? She's "looking at you? Really? I guess I didn't get the "drama" gene, because nothing sets me…
He was serious when he said he didn't "need" to go to church to be a Christian. He could just be walking through the woods and sense God's presence. I had been wondering where he'd been. You see he had been quite faithful up until about a year ago and then, poof, he was missing.…
It's always funny to hear people talk about what they think the Faith means by eternal life. I remember one movie from the 1990 called "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. The movie was about this tragic murder of a man and how the woman he loves copes with this tragedy. Of course the…
I've paid the price for failing to recognize "a VIP" before. I was new police officer in a small town and hadn't really met all the "important people" in that town yet, and one day I pulled this nice Cadillac over for speeding on one of the side roads in a neighborhood. I walked up…
Join me Sunday night at 8 PM Eastern/ 7 PM Central for Faith Encouraged LIVE. My special guests will be Fr. James Kordaris, director of the Stewardship, Outreach, and Evangelism department of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and Thomaida Hudanish, assistant director of the Outreach office of the Metropolis of San Francisco, as we discuss the…
It's hard to admit, but there are times when I really struggle with laziness. I know, I know, how can I say that with all that's going on in the ministry. But laziness isn't merely inactivity. It can also be the wrong allocation of strengths and gifts that waste those strengths and gifts. It is…
It's amazing how quick folks get upset if they feel like they are being bossed around. I had a couple come to see me once about how to raise their child and they informed me they had decided to not say anything about God to the child so that he could make up his mind…
Let's see; thinking of things that go great together - ham and eggs, peanut butter and jelly, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Tom and Jerry, a crisps, cool morning and a warm cup of coffee, bacon and, well more bacon!
OK, so that's a bit silly, but there are some things in life that simply always…