Last week I met with an older widow and her friend who asked to meet for guidance on inheritance questions. She has three children who have not treated her, or each other with love and respect. The kids in their 50’s claim to be Christians but after hearing their mother I had doubts. “Clare, I don’t trust my children to be fair with each other when I die with my personal possessions. Is there anything I can do now to lessen the potential conflict?” Yes, there is. I’ve sat wit

A man I’d never met called a few months ago and asked for an appointment about an urgent matter. So we met. “My son is dating a Catholic girl and my wife and I are sick about it! What should we do?” I’ve been asked this question dozens of times over the years, so I’ve learned to ask this question; “What kind of Catholic is she (or he)?” Invariably the reaction is always the same. “What do you mean by that? She’s Catholic. How many kinds of Catholics are there?” “There are as

I grew up in a wonderful church that was part of the theologically strong denomination. So what about to discribe is more about the Christian culture I grew up in than my church, or denomination. Growing up in the 50’s amd 60’s I heard the phrase used often, “I have a private faith.” Or “She, or he, or they have a private faith.” I took that to mean that just because they never, or rarely talked about their relationship with Jesus to family and friends and almost never to str

In last week’s blog, I described the sin Jesus said could not be pardoned or forgiven in this life or the next. The unpardonable sin is attributing to Satan, a work of the Holy Spirit like the miracle Jesus did and the Pharasies said Jesus was empowered by the Devil. But if what it means to be saved   is that all past and future sins are forgiven by God, because of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, is it even possible for Christians to commit an unpardonable sin? Maybe T

I grew up believing the “unforgivable sin” was denying Christ. I thought there were two kinds of people who could do that – non-Christians who rejected the gospel and people who once said they were Christians, but now deny being one. I was wrong (partly). Matthew 12:22-32 records this teaching of Jesus; Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.   All the people were astonished and said, “Could

A great friend of mine, Preston Sprinkle sent me this story and he wrote this response a few years ago. Hi. My name is ____________. I read your book “Living in a Gray World” and I’m struggling with same-sex attraction. I was wondering if you could help me cope with a problem at school. Well I don’t know where to begin. My so and so friend told the bus driver that I’m gay and things went south quickly. First he moved all the boys forward and me to the back of the bus. When I

I run into very few men who memorize scripture anymore. It’s just a whole lot easier to open your phone and find whatever verse you need. Here’s the problem with that idea; you and I don’t always know what wisdom from God we need as we move through life. So consider storing some up this year! Downloading Wisdom Information technology people have a saying, “Garbage in – Garbage out”. That means you can’t expect good results from bad information, or input. The inverse is also

The following is a blog I edited slightly, by Amy Hauptman. I thought it was an important reminder in a culture of “us versus them.” Let her counsel seep into your bones this Christmas week. Jesus did not come for Christmas pageants, Christmas trees, or cookies. And he didn’t come for Advent wreaths, live camels, gingerbread houses, or Christmas light shows in sync with the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Jesus’ Mission Statement : Jesus told us exactly why he came He came into th

My wife and I were out to dinner a few years ago and we were discussing how and why I blog. Specifically, how I come up with the topics for my blogs. Without trying to appear overly spiritual, I think the Holy Spirit gives me those topics. As I’m reading scripture, or listening to a sermon, or even watching the news. I often get this impression “that’s an idea you should think about more deeply.” But irony is that often I’m not always sure what I believe about each topic, or