Good morning! Last week, the good people video won your vote without question. I can’t wait to hear what you think about this week’s selections [...]
My list of things that I decided to do this year starts with these three words: “Pick a fight.”
That might sound a little odd at first. I picked a fight with Dale Gardener when I was in the 7th grade. He was huge. He almost blocked the sun when he walked by. I didn’t like Dale because he was a bully and beat up the little guys on campus. I’m not sure why he didn’t like me, maybe because I wasn’t a little guy.
It was pretty easy to pick a fight with Dale, actually. I told Dale one day [...]
I got a little bit of work done on my book today, but not as much as I’d hoped. Yesterday, I wrote five times as many words as I did today. And I’d even argue yesterday’s words were better. I doubt anything I wrote today will be published. And yet I feel fine about it.
It’s been a long time coming for me to view a relatively unsuccessful writing day as a victory, but I’m glad this is now my perspective.
What I mean by this is writing is not an exact science [...]
15May, 2013
He started playing the piano at age four. At eight years old, Leon Fleisher made his public debut in music performing with the New York Philharmonic. The director called him “the pianistic find of the century” and soon he was accepted to study with some of the greatest teachers of his time.
His star continued to rise in his twenties as he signed an exclusive contract with Columbia Masterworks. Particularly acclaimed for his interpretations of Bach and Beethoven, in the classical music world, he was becoming known around the globe as the “next big thing.”
And then, when he was in his 30s, at the peak of his career, something happened [...]
I recently met a local Portland politician for lunch whom I’ve respected for a long time. I went into the meeting planning on asking him about his political career and to get some tips on a few communication questions I had. Basically, I was planning on talking about him for an hour.
Then something incredible happened [...]
13May, 2013
One of the reasons people struggle so much with life is they expect it to be something it isn’t. They expect to be fulfilled by products, relationships and even religion as though this is going to be the “Act 3 Climax” of life. But Biblically, the complete climax of life doesn’t happen at conversion, it happens when we are reunited with God. Adjusting expectations, therefore, frees people to be happy and grateful for the good things they experience on earth.
A study done of the happiest countries named Denmark as the world’s [...]
Every Sunday we feature a brief “sermon” from an unlikely source. This week we feature Dallas Willard, who passed away this week from a long fight with cancer. Dr. Willard taught us about God’s love and His grace and is now with Him personally. A stunning life [...]
Good morning! I love gathering videos for you all each week. Jack Carroll received the most votes last Saturday, but what about this week? Which of these is your favorite?
10May, 2013
I’ve a friend named Stacey (guy) who started dating a girl years ago. I asked him how he was feeling about it, whether he thought she was going to work out. He said he hadn’t thought much about it, that it wasn’t time yet. What do you mean, I asked. Of course you’ve thought about it. He admitted he had, but that he wasn’t going to evaluate the relationship for another month. Instead, he was just going to enjoy it. He actually showed me his calendar and the following month had an X on a specific date. He said he had given himself permission to wait a month, and after this specific date [...]
Growing up, I didn’t think my mother liked me. I knew she had to love me, she was my mother. But I wasn’t sure she liked me, or at least she didn’t know how to handle me. Mom was quiet and melancholy; I was brash and angry. Melancholy and anger were the mechanisms we each used to cope with the family’s dysfunction. But we had little in common. Well, except for the dysfunction.
But I did know my mother loved me. She said she worried about me, she wanted me to be happy; she wanted me to know Jesus. And she prayed for me every day. Every morning as I got ready for school, I passed the den and caught a glimpse of her reading her Bible and praying.
Maybe she wasn’t close to me, but I saw with whom she was [...]
