The most gut-wrenching, head-splitting moments for me personally have been those moments when I tinkered back and forth on the edge of a decision with hesitant and melancholy momentum.    James, the half-brother of Jesus, declared in his letter, “For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed…A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8).

Confession time: I have been that double-minded man.  I am not speaking doctrinally, I am speaking practically.  I have been tossed on life’s sea while desperately riding the ship called Uncertain.  Who among us …

Bitterness is a plague to the soul.  John Courson has rightly said of the subject, “Bitterness is like taking a bottle of poison, swallowing it, and waiting for the other person to die.”  Bitterness may take root in just a moment’s time, but its fruit remains for years if left unattended.  It grows and grows eventually taking over the garden of the soul.  What are some root causes of bitterness, and more importantly, how do we cut it out of our lives?

Unforgiveness

All of us have been wronged at some point in our lives by a relative, co-worker, …

Here’s a pretty straight-forward question: are you a pessimist?  Are you a half-empty, things-are-not-so-great kind of person?  Pessimists are pretty easy to detect, just listen to them talk for a few minutes and their speech betrays them.  Oh, they may try to sugar coat things for awhile, but their words are like chocolate-covered pickles: you eventually get down to the vinegary taste.

Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  The major difference between a negative and positive person is attitude.  The way you view something ultimately determines how …

In 1550, a number of religious and influential people met in Essex to discuss the position of one’s posture in prayer.  Some contended that prayer should be observed while standing, others said prayer is at its best when kneeling.  They also discussed whether or not a covering should be placed upon one’s head while entering into the prayer closet.

After much discussion and debate, the council agreed by in large that attitude, not position, was the greatest condition of prayer.  Bodily posture, though important in prayer, should never supersede the posture of the mind.  The question therefore stands to …

I recently invited my children to go on a jog with me through the neighborhood.  Strong-willed, growing, and full of energy, they turned the jog into a competition.  As we began the route, one of my sons took off full speed trying to outdo his brother.  We watched as he sped hundreds of feet ahead.  Occasionally he would turn back and give us a smile as though he was winning.  It did not take him long to realize that he could not keep that pace up for 2.5 miles.

Once we caught up to him, he was so winded that …