March 11: No One Left Behind

In a fast-paced hard-driving TV commercial the U.S. armed forces sends a clear message: “You do not leave a fallen comrade on the field of battle.” The Ranger creed is simple: You do not leave a fallen comrade on the field of battle.”...

April 8: Overcoming the Power of Procrastination

Several years ago I ran across a short poem by Gloria Pitzer that expresses a problem every man has. She wrote: "Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact I will . . . tomorrow."

April 15: Are We Living in the Last Days?

One thing is certain, if Jesus came back in the next few days a lot of people would be surprised-and less prepared than they ever have been for a pop test. So what do you think? Are we living in the last days? Could the Middle East crisis lead to the rapture of the Church and the Battle of Armageddon?...

April 22: When You're Caught in a Storm

When I find myself in a crisis I usually look for the fastest way out. I search for the nearest exit. I wish I could say I always exercise unwavering faith in God. I don't. Instinctively I try to figure out how I can solve the problem. Of course the real problem isn't the storm--it's that I focus on my resources instead of God's...

April 29: Bridle Your Appetites

Jesus didn't pull any punches when he said, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). While Jesus was talking about the tension between loving God and loving money, the principle applies to other areas of life as well. We cannot devote ourselves to God and at the same time nurture a secret sin....

May 6: Success Comes to the Committed

Abraham Lincoln entered the Blackhawk War as a captain. By the end of the war, he had been demoted to the rank of private. Over the course of his life Lincoln suffered two business failures, a nervous breakdown, and was defeated in nine electoral races before being elected president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in our nation's history--but if he had given up after repeatedly suffering setbacks, he wouldn't be remembered at all...

May 13: Fail By Example

A lot of men think the best leaders are those who have a track record of uninterrupted successes. With that in mind they feverishly work to cover up past failures and magnify every success. And yet, nothing inspires others more than seeing a man who not only won a few battles but lost a few as well...

May 20: What's in a Name?

I laughed out loud the first time I saw the cartoon. It featured a smiling golden retriever with a caption above his head that read, "Hi. My name is No! No! Bad Dog! What's yours?"

May 27: The Heart of a Warrior

Are you facing hardship today? If so, remember: The heart of a warrior isn't destroyed by adversity, it's strengthened. That means all the hardship you've suffered will make you stronger, not weaker. It means--if you've suffered--or are suffering, God is molding you into a Mighty Man of faith...

June 3: Master the Little Things

I just watched the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Sacramento Kings in game seven of the Western Conference NBA championship game. For the first time in playoff history a conference championship game was decided in overtime...

June 10: The Pain of a Face Plant

I'm a barefoot water-skier--even though I haven't ventured out on the water in a few years. I love the exhilaration of skimming across glass-smooth water at high speeds. I love the spray of water at my sides. And I love the challenge of performing tricks without skis...

June 24: The Day My Father Died

As a boy I used to wear my dad's shoes and pretend I could fill them. I studied his walk and mimicked it. I adored my dad and wanted, more than anything, to be like him. That's why I used to get in so many fist-fights. My dad used to box professionally and nothing pleased him more than for me to meet a kid after school in an alley. That's also why I became the class clown and spent more time in the principal's office than any other student in school. My dad knew more jokes than anybody--except maybe me...

July 1: What Do You Do When No One is Looking?

In a survey, commissioned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, 82% of 401 high-ranking corporate executives admit to cheating on the golf course. Interestingly, most cheating occurs when nobody is looking. Or, when the cheater thinks nobody is looking...

July 8: Take Immediate Evasive Action

God wants you to know that every temptation you face is common to man. Whether it's got to do with honesty, anger, greed, sex, or a host of other sins--your temptations are faced by other guys. If misery loves company--that's good news...

July 15: The Frog in the Kettle

The story of the frog in the kettle blew my mind the fist time I heard it. In case you're unfamiliar with it, the story involves a frog that a researcher placed in a kettle of water. Curious as to how long the frog would remain in the water if he slowly heated it, the researcher placed the kettle, with the frog in it, over a low fire on a stove. Rather than leap out, which the frog could have done at any time, it swam lazily around the increasingly warm water. Amazingly, at least it was amazing to the researcher, the contented frog died in the boiling water. Apparently, the water changed temperature so slowly the frog never noticed--he just fell asleep...

July 22: The Key to Conflict Management

Conflict is as unavoidable as traffic in Los Angeles. If you've got two people on a team, or in a family, who never argue, one of them isn't needed. Jesus, the greatest leader of all time, experienced conflict among his disciples, between the disciples, and himself, and between the religious leaders and political leaders and himself. As long as you're engaged in relationships there will be conflict. If you refuse to see conflict as an inevitable part of life, you are likely to view it as an unnecessary interruption of the flow--and you may respond to conflict with frustration, anger and intolerance...

August 5: Kiss Your Wife Goodbye

Life is fragile. The psalmist tells us God has numbered our days. He alone knows when any of us, our wives or children will die. And God isn't telling. It's his secret. Most of us don't give a lot of thought to dying. We know our day will come, but figure it won't arrive any time soon...

August 21: How's Your Pastor Doing?

I've got some good news and some bad news regarding your pastor--or pastors in general. According to the Barna Research Group, protestant pastors have only half the incidence of divorce of the national norm. That's the good news. The bad news is that 81% of pastors experience insufficient time with their spouse; 63% have congregational difficulties that affect their marriage negatively; 46% have sexual problems within their marriage; and 41% indicate that their personal anger toward their spouse is a problem...

August 28: About Those "Little Sins"

Jesus didn't pull any punches when he said, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other" (Matt. 6:24). While Jesus was talking about the tension between loving God and loving money, the principle applies to other areas of our life as well. We cannot devote ourselves to God and at the same time nurture a secret sin. Nor can we devote ourselves to a compelling vision that requires integrity while living a double life...

September 2: Draw a Map of Yourself

I'm convinced the process of growth rests on our dedication to truth. Take for example, a map. If I wanted to drive from Portland to Denver I'd have to drive east. But getting to Denver in a reasonable period of time would require more than following the rising sun. I'd need a map. If the map I used was forty years old, it wouldn't do me much good. At the time it was drawn that map represented reality. But reality changes as new roads are built. And maps need to be updated so they represent those changes. I'd need a current map that accurately portrays current roads, distances and cities...

September 9: A Day You'll Never Forget

Nobody who saw the horror of 9/11 will ever forget the images of the jets slicing into the Twin Trade Towers and the explosions that followed. Nor erase from their memory television shots of the cavernous holes in the sides of the buildings with the black smoke billowing out and up. Worst of all--they'll never forget the jumpers in business suits (that was somebody's husband, father, and son) and the surreal collapse of the buildings that buried thousands beneath tons of debris...

September 16: The Purpose of Trials

Why? It's the question that hits first and lingers longest. Why me? Why now? Why this? Most people don't even try to answer such questions. How could they? That's what makes the words of James, the half-brother of Jesus so unexpected. He didn't hesitate to declare that the purpose of all testing is to produce "perseverance" in the life of the sufferer (James 1:2-4). Instead of looking at the disappointments we face, he exhorts us to look beyond the hardship to the character it will produce in our lives...

September 23: The Three Barriers to Belief

Here's the situation: You want to talk to someone about the Lord, but you're not sure how you should approach them. For years I pretty much just shared the message with people in the same way--of course I adapted the illustrations to fit their background--and felt that fulfilled my responsibility. And then I discovered there are three fundamental barriers people have to spiritual truth. Understanding which barrier a person has enabled me to adapt what I say to what they need the most. I'd venture to say that without an understanding of these barriers a man could share the message and actually push someone away from the Lord...

September 30: Don't Play Hide-And-Seek With God

We've all done things we're ashamed of. Things we hope nobody every finds out about. Things we lock in a safe in the back room of our mind. Approaching our shame is like climbing into a cave with a sleeping bear. The best we can hope for is a bad scare. But if we actually grab hold of the bear, things could get worse very fast. The bear might rip us to shreds. Since most men feel ill-equipped to take on such a beast they avoid the cave and the bear. Ultimately, it's fear that keeps us from facing the truth about ourselves...

October 7: You're Not Captain Picard, But You Are A New Man

One of my favorite episodes of Star Trek--The Next Generation began when the Enterprise encountered a strange probe in the far reaches of space. The probe emitted a beam that penetrated a very narrow region of the ship. Suddenly Captain Picard fainted. He found himself in the middle of a small village on the planet of Kataan, with a new name, Kamin, and a wife, Elain. It took Picard years to understand his new identity. Yet as time passed, he assumed the role of Kamin. He fathered two children, learned to play the flute, and tried unsuccessfully to devise a way to save the dying planet...

October 14: Would You Violate Your Ethic?

It's not a question most of us are ever asked. But it's worth asking and answering. Here's the question: Would you violate your ethic? Many men would say, "Of course not! I would never compromise my moral principles and values." If that's your answer then perhaps you need to reconsider. On the night before Jesus' crucifixion, the Lord told Peter that he would disown Jesus three times. Peter said, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”

October 21: The Power of a Word

A study of maladjusted students in a large Oklahoma high school reveals the importance of verbal affirmation. The counselors in the school first developed close relationships with ten of the school's most troubled teenagers. Next the counselors asked the kids, "How long has it been since your parents told you they loved you?" Only one of the students could remember hearing it at all, and he didn't remember when...

October 28: Juggling Life's Demands

Success now days isn't measured simply by how well a man does in one area of his life, but by how well he does in many areas. Areas like work, family, recreation, community concerns and church. Most of us could make it in one area, but how can we succeed in all of them? If we focus on one, we sacrifice the others. It's like juggling not only three balls--but ten balls. And sometimes the ball we ignore, the one we drop, is the most important one...

November 4: Achieving Success by Delaying Gratification

Immediate gratification is a driving force in our lives. We expect pain to go away fast. We expect immediate success. Our expectations are in keeping with what we see on TV--men get sex whenever they want it, relational conflicts are resolved in an hour, and other men have the trappings of success without the hassles...

November 11: Unleashing God's Power in Your Life

In a sense, that's what happens when we become followers of Christ. The Spirit of the living God comes to dwell within us. In a mysterious way, God's Spirit intertwines with ours and we become a new person (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul declares in Romans 6 that everything that is true of Jesus is true of us. The power of sin has been broken and we are liberated from sin's pull (Paul doesn't say our "old man" or sin nature has been removed--only that it's control over us has been severed)...

November 18: Persevere!

There are times when you'll feel the challenges you face are too great, the obstacles too high, the problems too tough, and the conflicts too painful. At such times you'll be emotionally, mentally, and physically spent. During those dark days remember that men and women who persevered attained the greatest accomplishments in world history. They were men who allowed hardship to strengthen their resolve rather than destroy it...

November 25: A Tribute to Bonnie

Bonnie entered our lives like a whirlwind. Gary, a friend of Ryan, my oldest son, moved in with us in the winter of 1997. A Brit by birth he spoke with an English accent and a sparkle in his eyes. But that sparkle glistened when he spoke of Bonnie...

December 2: The Peaceful Man

"If you're going to San Francisco," said a song of the sixties, "you're gonna meet some gentle people there." If you're steeped in the Sixties Culture then you know about Jerry Garcia. You know he was, according to the Washington Post, "the rock oracle" of the Grateful Dead, "a band that epitomizes freedom." The New York Times said Garcia, a guitarist, was a "mellow icon of 60's idealism" and embodied "psychedelic optimism."

December 9: Be Spontaneous

Spontaneity is crucial to emotional well being. A spontaneous man responds quickly to what he's feeling and to what's happening around him. Some men flee spontaneity. At times they feel like letting go. They want to express themselves and have a little fun. But they fear if they do they'll make those around them uncomfortable. So what do they do? They stuff their feelings. They disconnect from those feelings of spontaneity.

December 16: Three Elements of Spiritual Victory

Spiritual victory is a line not a dot. By that I mean it's a series of attitudes and actions which over time define who we are. It's not a single attitude or action. If we drew it on a piece of paper, it would appear as a wavy line that goes up and down but is always heading in an upward direction. Sometimes men get discouraged because they say or do something that's both stupid and sinful. They feel they aren't making progress. At such times it's crucial to remember victory is a line not a dot. And ultimately my victory is assured, not by my determination or effort, but by the one who lives in me.

December 23: A Christmas Gift

In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey asks a penetrating question: If Jesus came to reveal God to us, then what do I learn about God from that first Christmas?

December 30: A New Year's Perspective

Stretching before you, further than the eye can see, lays the New Year. It consists of 365 Days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536, 000 seconds. In the course of the next year you'll take approximately 8,000,000 breaths, you'll blink over 11.5 million times, and you'll spend over 100 days sleeping--assuming you sleep 7 hours a night.