You are here: Home / Blog

Freedom in Christ

February 10, 2011

Peter’s parents had always been strict, but to obey them was his second nature. He knew that to step out of line would displease them and invite the wrath of God. So he tried hard to get all A’s in school and he never ran with a gang or took part in questionable pastimes.

But Peter, now 22, was far from being the happy fellow that folks supposed him to be. After a promising start as a tool designer, he lost his job and then two others after short trials. He renounced his church. He became involved in escapades that would have been public scandals had they been known. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Developing Self-Control, Extending Forgiveness, Getting Right with God, Healing Family Relationships · Tagged With: ,

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

January 27, 2011

“It’s agonizing. Any gathering of people frightens me. In a traffic jam I feel like jumping out of the car and running away. I force myself to go to church and sit there with a feeling of suspense. Even a few customers lined up to buy something in my place of business frightens me. I feel trapped.”

The gentleman speaking was a college graduate and successful in business. He went on, “It started when we moved to an apartment. The people below us and beside us were noisy. We could hear their radios. They would drop things. Often another car was in my parking space. Finally, I insisted on moving to our own home. My wife wasn’t bothered at all by these things and she resisted our moving back to a home of our own, so now there is a wall building between us. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Relationships, Relinquishing Fear, Resolving Anger Problems · Tagged With: , ,

The Fruit of Rebellion

January 13, 2011

Kay Ripley was an attractive woman, well poised, a good conversationalist. Yet she wanted to know why she was a social failure.

“I’m afraid to even go out anymore,” she confided. “I never know what faux pas I may commit next.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with Sin, Healing Family Relationships, Relationships · Tagged With: , ,

Patience in Managing

December 30, 2010

John Morgan was having trouble with the employees in his automobile repair garage. His mechanics would listen politely to an order; then not carry it through.

“Why, I bet I have to tell them three times before they fill out their repair tickets right or turn out a light they’re through using,” he raged.

Mr. Morgan had come to me from a sickbed. Every month or so he had to quit work. His stomach pained him; he was short of breath; he couldn’t eat. He would blow up at the garage and go home. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership Development, Physical Health, Resolving Anger Problems · Tagged With: , ,

Your Body is Telling You …

December 16, 2010

Years ago, respected physician, Dr. S.I. McMillan, taught the college Sunday school class at the church I attended. He gave a series of lectures on how certain thoughts and feelings can cause pain in many parts of the body. Dr. McMillen included material by Dr. O. Spurgeon English of Temple University School of Medicine.

Up to this time, I had always assumed that pain meant something was wrong with the body and that a physician would know how to fix it. When there was a problem you simply got it fixed, much like you would take your broken watch to a jeweler. The proper choice of pills or an injection would hopefully do the job. It simply never occurred to me that thoughts and feelings could affect the body. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Dealing with Sin, Getting Right with God, Physical Health, Uncategorized · Tagged With: , , ,

The Truth about Consequences

December 2, 2010

We do our children a great favor if we help them understand there are consequences for their actions … good and bad.

Distraught parents often come to me because their children are suffering the consequences of not being adequately supervised. Of course, teenagers do not want to be supervised, but oftentimes dire consequences will be the result of parents adhering to their children’s complaints and demands for more personal freedom in areas where they are unable to cope with temptation. Setting consequences for a child’s choices and then making them happen is a crucial part of teaching children. They must learn the principles expressed in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” [Read more...]

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

Setting Limits

November 18, 2010

In all athletic team competitions, the home and visiting teams and their corresponding fans all go by the same rules and boundaries. The rules are published in a book and knowledge of the rules is essential to understanding and playing the game. Making sure the players stay within the limits established by the rule book is the job of the officials. If a player breaks a rule, the referee penalizes the entire team. The player and his team must accept the consequences. The referee’s interpretation of the game is final.

The phrase football game tells us many things. The very name of the game determines the shape of the ball, the dimensions of the playing field, the rules of the game, and the type of clothes the players and officials wear.

The word family also tells us many things. Determined limits make a family unique. [Read more...]

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

Discipline with Love and Conviction

November 4, 2010

God’s Word instructs us to love one another (1 Peter 1:22). Nearly every parent wants to give his or her children tender, loving, and sacrificial care that flows out of a heart of love; but even the most dedicated mother or father cannot do this unless God is the source of that love. This is because God is love, and as we walk in His love, it will flow to our children through us.

God does not leave us without guidance. In fact, the biblical standard for love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It has fifteen components:  suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, always bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Parenting Advice, Relationships · Tagged With: ,

I’m Not Having Fun Yet!

October 21, 2010

Someone once said to me, “Don’t make parenting so difficult. Just relax and have fun! You don’t have to know everything in order to be a good parent.”

Being a parent starts out as a dream. Doting, expectant fathers and their pregnant wives dream about the sweet infant all cozy in pink or blue blankets with cute outfits and fun toys. With smiles in their eyes, they turn to each other and vow, “We’re going to be the best parents ever!”

Then the baby arrives. Suddenly the parents discover “the dream” yells. And smells. And spits. All at 3 a.m. [Read more...]

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

Good Communication

October 7, 2010

The secret of getting along in marriage lies in two people applying the principle embodied in this verse from the Bible: “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).

This is a workable formula! And amazingly, it is easier to carry out than to trying to figure out the other person. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biblical Behavior, Healing Family Relationships, Marital Peace, Successful Marriage · Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »