In Part I of our two-part conversation about influence, we began to uncover just how broadly and how deeply the power of influence runs. In our world today, influence has taken on a new – and in some ways even more significant meaning – than ever before. Now because we have social media, we have created a space for influencers to arise within our midst. Sometimes these individuals appear on the scene from very unlikely backgrounds. The vast majority of the most popular of these influencers have been given our attention because they are famous. Curiously, much of their influence is not based on ..read more

Influence. We are all touched by it in countless ways and countless times each and every day of our lives. Influence comes from all corners of life. If we are partial to someone, we generally accept their influence positively. If we are at odds with someone, we generally look down upon their influence. Either way, they influence us. Influence comes from advertising and social media. It comes from politicians and educators. It comes from books, movies and shows. It comes from those who enforce and those who break the law. It comes from our superiors, our peers and our subordinates. Influence ha ..read more

Let’s begin by stating the obvious: the world is a mess! Now, we all know the world has been a mess for a very long time, so the question is, is this even news? The answer is yes, it is! Our present-day mess has everything to do with the ability to be connected with as many perspectives on and interpretations of truth as we would like. We can now easily and often categorize, judge or ignore anything and everything that doesn’t fit into our personal world view. All of this brings us to a place where we effortlessly define good and evil according to preference and not principle. We believe Jesus ..read more

Everyone experiences loss in their lives in one way or another. How we attempt to cope with those losses depends upon several things. First, the kind of loss we are facing can dictate whether our response to it is mild, strong or severe. Second, our cultural environment offers up expectations as to how our mild strong or severe responses are to be displayed. In biblical days, grieving over difficult losses was often displayed in a very outward, very public manner. The Bible is full of examples of such public crying, wailing, renting of clothes and despair. For many of us in our present-day min ..read more

Every serious Christian knows about God’s holy spirit. We not only know about it, but we also often talk about what we believe to be its effects upon our lives. Christians speak of being provoked, directed, protected and guided by the spirit. Some of us claim the spirit speaks to us, or perhaps to our pastor, for the purpose of giving us not only instruction, but prophetic utterances regarding our lives as well. In short, our brand of Christianity or denomination has much to do with how we believe the holy spirit works. So, how does it work? Who is right, and who may be mistaken when it comes ..read more

We don’t know much about the spiritual world, especially before the creation of humanity. What we do know is that it was an entirely harmonious world with loyalty and obedience to God at its center. God foreknew that when pride crept into Satan’s heart and was exposed, it would lead to a massive shift in the way things would run. In heaven, it would no longer be business as usual, for now the lessons of sin and disobedience would be unleashed. These painful but necessary lessons would – under God’s power and providence – ultimately bring the whole of His creation back into the harmony it had l ..read more

Jesus is the Savior of the world. We all know how he left his heavenly glory with the Father and was reduced to the human condition so he could be the ransom – the corresponding price – for Adam and his fall from obedience and grace. By so doing, Jesus gave the whole human race an opportunity for everlasting life. So, when we look at Jesus, we see him as Savior, Redeemer, the Lamb of God, the Author and Finisher of our faith, and I could go on and on. So, why address him as the “last Adam”? Simply looking at such a title actually invites a lot of questions, especially since all the other ways ..read more

Honor and respect. These seem like simple enough words but try and find them actively functioning in everyday life and you will find that they are surprisingly rare. As we speculate about why this is, we may conclude that we as a social order simply don’t perceive a need for them. The further we go down the road of each of us primarily answering to only ourselves, the less important honor for others becomes. While this may now be socially acceptable, it is far from being scripturally authorized. On the contrary, as Christians, we are solidly instructed to be people who exemplify honor in ever ..read more

Our society is in trouble. In many ways, it seems that we have lost our way, and we no longer have a general sense of societal respect. Maybe it’s just me, but when I was a kid, I was clearly shown the importance of valuing others. We were taught to respect those in charge, and respect those who enforced the law and kept order. We were taught to have high esteem for parents and educators. We were taught to appreciate and value all who did whatever their part was, be it big or small. Now it seems we are taught respect should be demanded from others and not given. Our go-to approach encourages d ..read more

It would seem that most entering into marriage do so with high expectations of a life of happiness, fulfillment and companionship. Unfortunately for far too many, these expectations are foreign to their reality. Excluding marriages that end in divorce, how many are truly happy and fulfilled, and how many are simply going along to get along? These are hard things to look at. In order to do so in a positive and growth-oriented way, we need to establish two basic truths for our conversation. First, let’s understand that “Happily ever after” is a fairy tale ending. The feelings it ignites of an ev ..read more