An Invitation to Boldness

“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“Follow me.” (Luke 5:27)

Earlier this year an acquaintance of mine introduced me to Jon Gordon’s “One Word Challenge.” The idea was simple. Instead of making resolutions every year that you abandon before the second week in January, pick one word that will define how you will live your life that year.

Obviously, a person cannot just open the dictionary to a random page, point at the first word he sees, and choose that as his word. Such an exercise might cause you to become unscrupulous, deceptive, or irredeemable for the year and that would be terrible! No, choosing such a crucial word must be accompanied with prayer, meditation, and precision. Sometimes the word may just pop into your head. Sometimes it may be the antonym of a characteristic you are trying to avoid. And sometimes it may require continually seeking and understanding what God is telling you in your heart until you have finally articulated the essence of His will for your life this year…in ONE word.

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The End of Fear

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Fear ends where redemption begins. Once you are no longer your own but belong to God, rest and security can finally belong to you. Fear is only reserved for those who are still in charge of themselves and their future. And why shouldn’t it be? No man can see the future nor control all the variables to accomplish his will 100% of the time. Uncertainty, doubt, and fear will certainly surround the shadowed sight of man, for, despite one’s cleverness, they will always, inevitably fail.

But once your life no longer belongs to you, once it has been redeemed by God, fear is no longer necessary. Continue reading

Hypocrite with a Thousand Faces

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When you think about it there are only two questions that a therapist usually has to help his client answer: 1) “Who am I?” and 2) “Who do I want to be?” Trust me, after almost 20 years of professionally helping people, almost every situation has eventually boiled down into one, if not both, of these two issues. Whether they are a perpetrator or victim, alcoholic or codependent, philanderer or faithful, depressed or anxious, everyone who has genuinely sought help has realized prior to calling for an appointment that they do not know (or do not like) the answer to the first question, and they need help with the second. Continue reading