Building Character
The Good in Fear
Fear can be quite effective at keeping us from venturing out in numerous areas. When it comes to wearing a flying suit and jumping off tall mountainous cliffs, fear keeps most of us grounded. But when fear prevents us from pursuing relationships, growth ventures, job opportunities and the like, it…
Read MoreWisdom A, B, and C
Our interstate road system gets a lot of mileage (pun intended) when a single Exit number is tagged with alpha characters to create as many as 4 different exits: A, B, C, and D. It can get confusing when the exits don’t appear in alphabetical order, or when the order…
Read MoreThe Size Difference
A number of years ago, without losing any weight at all, I was suddenly 2 sizes smaller. Shockingly, I could no longer find anything that fit me in certain clothing departments. Because I have a tendency to believe that size is basically a fixed matter (unless an object is altered),…
Read MoreHow Pedigree Inoculates Against Responsibility
In the days of Jeremiah following the first wave of Jewish deportation to Babylon, the remaining Israelites in Jerusalem were admonished by the prophet to obey the Law of the Lord and turn from their evil ways. God spoke clearly through Jeremiah about the coming disasters of sword, famine, plague,…
Read MoreSitting in Judgement
Pigpen, a character in the “Peanuts” cartoon strip by Charles Schultz, is characterized by a cloud of dust and dirt following him around. At times in the raising of our boys, I felt as if Pigpen lived in our home. But in recent years that dust cloud has come to…
Read MoreWho’s In Charge?
My seventh-grade class was unusual in that the principal of the school was also our homeroom teacher. He commanded great respect, but when he was out of the classroom attending to school business, the class erupted into a free-for-all. Occasionally we would get so loud that a teacher from another…
Read MoreProblems with the Messenger
“Don’t kill the messenger!” That saying likely came from the account of David putting to death the messenger who assisted in King Saul’s demise, then brought the “good” news to David that he could now become King of Israel. While that messenger was not from God, the Lord used many…
Read MoreJust Testing
Proverbs 17:3 reads, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” Solomon is saying in this proverb that everything of value must be tested to uphold that value. In the case of precious metals, the testing is heat, fire. But because man often…
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