A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. -Ruth Bell Graham Continue Reading
January 29, 2015
Mad at Dad
Please Note: I got knocked down with a serious bug this weekend in New Hampshire which has had me flat on my back all week. So thanks for bearing with me, and my posts will be back on a regular schedule now. I'm at the age when I, and many of my friends, are standing at the dock with our parents. They're getting ready to board and we're reluctantly facing it, while reflecting on how much they mean to us, and how surprisingly huge their role in our lives has turned out to be. All of which gets me thinking about fathers and sons. Dads figure Continue Reading
November 18, 2014
Beware the Grudge
A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. ~ Ruth Bell Graham Even on the best of football teams, fumbles happen. Continue Reading
November 13, 2014
Releasing Your Wounder
We’ve all got them – wounds, past injuries of the soul that still show themselves, either in the way we relate, or the pain we feel. I've learned a lot by examining my own, and those of the people I've been blessed to work with over the years. Continue Reading
October 30, 2014
As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us (repeat chorus as needed)
I’m still working on three things Jesus demands from me: that I not worry (Matthew 6:34) that I turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39) and that I forgive (Matthew 6:15). Strike three. I’ve never thought of myself as an unforgiving, grudge-holding kind of guy. But for whatever reason, I’m now seeing many things I just haven’t let go of. And I’m talking about old things, ancient history from childhood, or junior high days, or very young adulthood. Which is interesting, because candidly, I’ve been messed with pretty badly in recent years. In Continue Reading
October 29, 2014
Amazing Grays
Our local paper ran a feature story awhile back, written by a self-identified evangelical Christian and titled “There is Something in the Air. Can You Feel It? Grace.” Great start. Nothing turns me on like a consideration of God’s grace because, after all, where would I be without it? But then it all went downhill, as the article celebrated the growing acceptance of same sex marriage, even among believers, as evidence of a “great grace awakening.” She went so far as to call it a Third Great Awakening which is “broader” than traditional Continue Reading
September 16, 2014
Still in the Dog House? Try This
For the married man who's let his wife down, there can be a real helplessness that goes along with repentance. You know you’ve messed up, you’ve apologized every which way you can, and you’ve taken some concrete steps to get help. You’ve joined an accountability group, you’ve gotten yourself an accountability partner, you’re in counseling, and you make sure that on a daily basis you’re in the Word and praying. But you’re still in the dog house. She says she forgives you, then she rips into you with a fresh round of questions. (“How could you Continue Reading
September 15, 2014
Losing Heart, Acting Out
Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. -II Corinthians 4:1 When the going gets tough, it’s easy to fall back on tried and true comforting devices. I think that’s one reason so many people who struggle with chemical dependency, alcoholism, or sexual sin, keep returning to their counter-productive behavior – not just because it’s so addictive, but because it has a proven track record of medicating the pain away. And these days, who hasn’t got some pain they’d like to medicate? Paul, I Continue Reading
August 19, 2014
What the Wounded Wife Has to Say
If I knew falling in love would hurt this much I would have rather fallen into a ditch, and maybe I would be healed by now. -Evans Macharia When a man sexually betrays his wife, his ability to understand her pain is equal to his ability to understand what pregnancy and delivery feel like. Continue Reading
August 4, 2014
“Regrets, I’ve Had a Few —“
“---but then again, too few to mention.” Or so crooned Frank Sinatra in his signature ballad “My Way.” And if that’s really true, more power to the guy. Me, I had a multitude of regrets by the time I was ten, so I certainly didn’t reach middle age with a clean slate. I’m pretty sure most of us have some sense of falling short of our own standards when we review our lives. And that’s where we walk a fine line between healthy regret and unproductive guilt. Continue Reading
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