Being a modern American male, I have diagnosed myself via the internet for a condition I would never see a doctor about. And I am confident of my diagnosis. (Although I have a relatively mild case.) I have Prosopagnosia. And I am not alone. Prosopagnosia is estimated to afflict 1 out of every 50 human beings. The common term is Face Blindness and it is the “inability to recognize or differentiate faces”. It’s a brain disorder. I am only half joking about diagnosing myself with Prosopagnosia. I definitely have a harder time than most people in recognizing faces. You often…

I don’t want to name any names, so I will just say it is “a currently famous pastor”.  This guy is cranking out podcasts on “leadership”, and I listened to a couple the other day.  Before I say anything more, I will confess that I have a bias against this guy. My gut doesn’t like him. A little too smooth and not very deep, that’s my general impression.  (I could be wrong.) These particular podcasts caught my attention because his subject was habit formation.  On the front end he gave credit to Charles Duhigg and James Clear for their research…

A man returning from a short term mission trip to Haiti said, “It made me realize how incredibly blessed I am”.  I have heard similar things from others. It’s a common reaction to visiting the third world. But it misses the mark. I would have no problem hearing, “I realized how wealthy I am.”  “How comfortable I am.” “How much security I have.” In fact, every one of those insights would be worthy of applause even. Perhaps these are what the man meant to say.  But when we say “how blessed we are here in the U.S.”, our language reveals a misguided and unbiblical…

In a way, my adult life has been a struggle against the temptation to reduce faith. To make it something less than God intended. Less than the Scriptures describe.  Whenever I consciously expand my definition of Christian faith, rather than reduce it, I find life more enjoyable.  More exciting.   More fulfilling.  C.S. Lewis wrote, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in…

I got a reminder over the weekend that I need to redouble my prayers for my four kids, three at college and one in high school. I have a theory as to why the teenage years are so difficult: This is the stage of life where Satan throws every conceivable temptation your direction. Alcohol. Drugs. Lust. Vanity. Dishonesty. Greed. Laziness. Self-centeredness.   And then he watches and takes notes on which sin trips you up.  If he’s lucky, he finds a couple.  Once he finds a sticky sin or two, he throws all his efforts into sugar-coating them. Makes them easy…

Here is one way to know when you are not really enjoying your job: you look forward to Friday all week long and as soon as Friday afternoon hits, you start fretting over how fast a weekend passes.  If you love your work, there’s no reason to dread Monday morning. If you find your job challenging (in a good way) as well as fulfilling, weekends seem longer. Saturday and Sunday are more relaxed. More enjoyable. I am grateful to be able to say that I am in a much better place than I was two months ago.  My weekends are…

What costs $61,000 in the U.S. but only $250 in Ghana, Africa? The creation of a new job.  In the U.S. that $61,000 is needed to cover salary, health insurance, and training.* In Ghana, that $250 is enough to fund a shopping trip to the city to get a beginning inventory of fresh fruits and vegetables to sell to neighbors close to home. Or plant a garden. Or purchase some chickens for breeding.  But here’s the catch: Finding $250 readily available in Ghana is tougher than finding $61,000 in the U.S.  Much tougher. And here’s something we need to keep…

When my phone rings and the number on the display is unknown to me, 99 times out of 100 I am about to hear how the warranty on my vehicle has expired, my social security number has been “suspended”, or how hard a credit card company has been trying to reach me.  But 1 time out of 100 it is a graduate of Cap-Haitien Christian School who tracked down my cell number to call on a random Thursday evening to express thanks to Melissa and me. I am glad I answered the call. 

Fresh out of college, I worked as a youth pastor for two United Methodist churches in northwest Iowa. My roommate, Ray, was a funny little guy who worked as a youth pastor at a different church.  To my shame I must admit that Ray was further along in his faith and more intentional about discipling the youth in his care. I realized this when he received a complaint from a parent – mom was upset that her high school aged son, under Ray’s guidance, was “taking his faith too seriously”.  At the time I thought it was an odd complaint. …

When Paul says (in Philippians 3:8) “I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things”, his idea of “knowing” Jesus is most similar to  A) The way we might “know” a movie star – We are familiar with her work from a distance. B) The way we might “know” a Starbucks barista – We know his name, greet him daily, and wish him well.  C) The way we might “know” an old high school friend on Facebook – We see her updates now and then…