There’s a new baseball Hall of Fame class. Most fans will recognize the names of some of the inductees, like Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza. Most fans might also notice that there are a few key names missing, like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Both of these players who had Hall of Fame careers, […]

There aren’t a lot of teachers that are children. They don’t have the knowledge and experience needed, obviously, to teach. But there are some things they do naturally that—if we pay close attention—might help us learn a thing or two. I think one of those is found in the way they talk to their parents. […]

“The fact of the matter is that we will never figure God out. He will never do all the things that we were expecting. He will never stay on our agenda page. He will never be comfortably predictable. If we rest in God’s care only when we understand just what he’s doing, there will be […]

“What you really have-what all of us have, by birth-is more than anything a heart problem. And if you’re trying to treat the ‘one thing’ in your life by (1) trying harder, (2) using others, (3) escaping, or (4) upping your religion quotient-or any combination of these-all you’re really doing is just mowing over the […]

“You need some way to look at your children and understand their needs. You need some comprehensive way to organize the things that make up their personalities. You need a grid on which to chart strengths and weaknesses, so that you can zero in on their real needs. The Three-Pronged Tool of Diagnosis is both […]

“As it is recorded that David, in the heat of battle, waxed faint, so may it be written of all the servants of the Lord. Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise […]

“Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer after having dressed in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing was to give myself to the reading of God’s Word, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart […]

“The presence of extreme busyness in our lives may point to deeper problems–a pervasive people-pleasing, a restless ambition, a malaise of meaningfulness. ‘Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness,’ writes Tim Kreider in his viral article, ‘The Busy Trap,’ for the New York Times. ‘Obviously your life cannot possibly be […]

The Bible uses three basic metaphors to describe how people relate to the idols of their hearts. They love idols, trust idols, and obey idols.   The Bible sometimes speaks of idols using a marital metaphor. God should be our true Spouse, but when we desire and delight in other things more than God we commit spiritual adultery. […]

“We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life.”   Tim Keller in Counterfeit Gods: The […]