Life Guide What’s the difference between a name and a nickname? A name, in our culture at least, isn’t generally given with a ton of thought put into the actual meaning of it. We like the sound of it or choose it because of a family member. “Joseph” means “He will add /increase.” Was I…
The year was 1990. I’m four years old. I’m sitting dangerously close to a 90lb tube TV watching a moving, the same movie, for the 4th time that day, for who knows how many days, for who knows how many weeks. What movie? Why, “Mary Poppins” of course! What a lady, Mary Poppins! Going around…
Life Guide King Darius the Persian and his buddies, the Medes, forced toppled the Babylonian Empire after which time he appointed 120 satraps over his new kingdom with 3 administers over them. Persian government, Persian rulers, you’d think. But Daniel, the Israelite, was one of the three and the one Darius’ planned to place over…
Life Guide What are you all about? How would people know? Maybe you make it obvious by looking the part of whatever it is you’re into, superfan stuff. You tell people up front in detail, so much detail, all the detail. Or, maybe you play close to the vest and let people get to know…
“Who, me? Couldn’t be!?” Remember that song? “Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?” Classic. It was such merriment to sing that as a kid of a certain age and get a chance to accuse someone of stealing the cookies right out of the jar! Excitement! Getting to deny that you stole the cookies…
If God appeared to you in a dream extending the same open ended offer he did to Solomon, what would you ask for? This hypothetical opportunity serves as spiritual Rorschach test. Dr. Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychologist, put his artistic side to work and started using images like [these] to help identify and analyze what…
We say, “The heart wants what the heart wants,” to justify being drawn to things, to people, to relationships, which are just toxic. “We’re not compatible, no good for each other. But hey, the heart wants what the heart wants!” Sometimes, the heart totally gives in, loses itself to another person, to a bad situation…
You might think Moses would have responded differently after all that happened during his time as Israel’s leader. Time after time, God showed his power and timed after time, Israel grumbled, disobeyed God, and hated Moses for telling them what God said. You’d think Moses would maybe say something else when God showed him Canaan,…
Do you ever find yourself wondering what things would have been like had that one thing gone differently? Maybe you feverishly wish this, but always to no avail. Spending time in that thought zone isn’t beneficial. It’s better to resolve to walk God’s paths going forward in saving grace rather than linger in regret and…
When it comes to the question of suffering and dealing with it, it’s good to hear the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 7:14, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made one as well as the other.” The truth that good and bad are given to us from God’s…