We work hard at giving our kids “stuff.”  From electronics to the latest style of skinny-jeans we ensure they have the very best we can possibly afford.  We can give our children the finest things in life but there is a good chance that 20 years from now they will not remember those particular items.  What they will remember is the relationship we developed with them through those years.

I believe we develop relationships through generosity and trust.  When we are generous in the right areas of child training our children will be more prone to trust and obey us.  …

It is during the seasons of adversity that I learn to appreciate boredom.  Oftentimes we complain about the mundane, mediocre moments that monopolize our lives; you know: the predictable suppers, the overcrowded highways, the same-old sitcoms, the old worn-out pajamas, the ordinary, run-of-the-mill content of each ordinary day.  It seems like we undervalue and underrate the dullness until something bad occurs.

Isn’t it ironic how the death of a loved one, a lost job, a bad doctor’s report, or a financial setback causes us to long for the ordinary?  It is then we realize that boredom is actually a blessing.…

Have you ever read your Bible and not meaning to you start thinking of something else?    Well, not long ago I was reading through Nehemiah 6-8, and when I got to chapter 7 the writer started listing all the names of the children of Israel that came back to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity.  The chapter looks like this:

Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this;
The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two.
The …

Can you see the vast number of soldiers in the Valley of Elah as they have aligned themselves against the Philistines? All of them want victory against the enemy, but not one of them wants to fight this massive behemoth known as Goliath. That includes Saul, the king of Israel, the one who stood head and shoulders above the entire nation. Saul didn’t want to fight either, and for good reason. Goliath was a champion of war, an intimidating creature, and a giant from the enemy territory. But when David (the little shepherd boy from Bethlehem) enters the circumstance things …

The work of Satan is to kill, steal, and destroy.  He is a murderer of wholesome things, a roaring lion who prowls about for victims, a robber of joy and peace, and a consummate liar.  Jesus declared in John 8:44 that he is the father of lies, or quite literally, the originator of deception.  Every lie told is done so out of the dark character of the prince of this world.  Because he can transform himself into the “angel of light” he is able to manipulate our thoughts, our attitudes, and our perception of reality.

His wicked words to …