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Speaking the Truth

January 26, 2012

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

I was the guest speaker at a church conference and was attending one of those family-style banquets where they pass the platters of food and you eat whatever you want. I was sitting next to the minster of a local church. He filled his plate with a pile of potatoes, smothered it with gravy and all the trimmings, and ate it all. That is not what impressed me. He did it all over again! I could not get my eyes off that second plate.

Finally, he leaned over to me and whispered, “You know, Doc, I am a compulsive eater.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with Sin, Developing Self-Control, Physical Health · Tagged With: , ,

Consistency

January 12, 2012

Marilyn and Charles had been having trouble for several years. The trouble was not fights or noisy arguments, but playing cat-and-mouse over Marilyn’s changing moods.

The couple would plan to go to a Sunday school class party or a family gathering, but Marilyn would beg off at the last minute. She just wasn’t up to socializing. Charles would feel sorry for her, change the evening’s plans and stay home. After several weeks of staying home he would become blue. Then she would feel guilty for causing him to give up his social life and she would start going out. But he knew she was doing it just for him, so he would feel guilty and stay home more. It was a vicious circle, actually a battle of wills, his versus hers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Mental Health, Contentment, Happiness, Inner Peace, Marital Peace, Overcoming Depression, Relinquishing Fear, Right Thinking · Tagged With: , , ,

A Divided House

December 29, 2011

“Oh no, not another family fight,” groaned 16-year-old Carole, and she fled to her room in tears.

Carole had asked her mother if she might go roller skating with the church youth group, and Mom had replied, “No; you were at Bible Study last night and you studied late the night before.”

Just then Dad had come in and urged, “Let her go. She’s young only once.”

“But Carole needs her rest,” Mom insisted. Then the seesaw argument began, and both her mother and father were soon angry. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Healing Family Relationships, Inner Peace, Relationships · Tagged With: , ,

Everyone Wanting Their Own Way

December 15, 2011

Jon was 14, a handsome, tough young man. A likable guy, he noticed the pictures on the wall of my office and asked what it took to graduate from the college I’d attended. Someday he wanted to be a professional man, he said. I found out that he liked sports, reading, and church, and had lots of friends.

But when it came to talking about his folks, his eyes became slits, his lips pressed into a line, and his voice raised a couple of levels as he shrilled, “I hate them!”’ [Read more...]

Filed Under: Healing Family Relationships, Parenting Advice, Relationships · Tagged With: , ,

Damaging Comparisons

December 1, 2011

Sisters Kendra and Connie Evans were much alike, except that Kendra was an “ugly duckling” in comparison with her blond, blue-eyed, younger sister. The difference had been repeatedly noted even in childhood.

”What a perfectly beautiful child!” strangers had exclaimed over Connie. And through the years, Mrs. Evans never tired of hearing this praise for her younger daughter.

”Connie is a pretty child,” she would reply. ”It’s just too bad that her sister couldn’t have shared her good fortune.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Healing Family Relationships, Our Speech, Parenting Advice · Tagged With: ,

A Mother-Daughter Battle

November 17, 2011

“I love Betty very much and she knows it. But why is she so rebellious? Mrs. Grant asked me.

This mother was a sincere Christian, and her teen-age daughter had been a continual object of her prayers. She could not get Betty to study, do a chore right, get along with her brother, or even eat properly. It was a mother-daughter battle, and it terribly distressed Mrs. Grant. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Dealing with Sin, Developing Self-Control, Parenting Advice · Tagged With: , ,

Act Like a Parent!

November 3, 2011

Isabel Carr complained that her problems began the day she decided to become an obedient wife. “I figured that a Christian woman ought to be subject to her husband,” she said.

And what had ten years of obedience produced? Her husband, Glenn, bowled four nights every week. He paid little attention to the children, even missing their son Dan’s high school graduation because Glenn stayed too long on the golf course. Three months ago, admitting he was growing fond of his secretary, Glenn moved out. He had not contributed a dime to the family since. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Advice · Tagged With: ,

The Slow Burn

October 20, 2011

“How do they expect me to manage this store right when I have such poor help?” Gil Black muttered, as he checked the canned corn and found every price mark only an ink smudge. He ought to tell that stock boy a thing or two! But he wouldn’t chew him out. Gil Black never brought anyone up short. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Leadership Development · Tagged With: ,

A Desperate Act

October 6, 2011

Eric Green lay in a pool of his own blood on the bathroom floor. He watched the red stream spurt from his slashed wrists and trickle along the masonry grooves that separated the little squares of tile. Powerless to stop them, he saw the blood crawl steadily onward and spill into more grooves.

He had started this flow. It was something he had wanted to do—to end his life. But now the horror of his choice overwhelmed him. What a mistake he had made! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Mental Health, Life Transformation · Tagged With: , ,

Seeking Man’s Approval

September 22, 2011

The new high-school music teacher, fresh from college, was fair game for the harassment of his students. Fred Baker, 22, thought things would improve when he took over the music at church and assisted with the young people’s work. But he was wrong.

Embarrassing practical jokes, jibes at his youthfulness, and little grins that came to faces because he was the school’s first male music teacher—all this teasing kept up. Word got back to him some of the students and parents were saying he wouldn’t dare subject his piano-playing hands to a real man’s work. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Happiness, Inner Peace · Tagged With: , , , ,
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