Have you ever played Scrabble? The idea is simple: Make words for points, and whoever gets the most points wins. But issues can arise when someone puts a word on the board that the other player doesn’t recognize. If challenged it has to be looked up in an agreed-upon dictionary. The word only stays if it’s … Continue reading The words that are inspired inspire
wisdom
The view from the top
Every day we’re faced with choices about what route we’re going to take. These come in the form of decisions. A lot of them are simple. You don’t even have to think about them. But there are also difficult choices. These are choices like whether to do the right thing or the easy thing; whether … Continue reading The view from the top
Sifting for wisdom in the age of “experts”
Do you sometimes feel like we live in a time that is saturated with “experts”? There are food experts and weather experts and psychology experts and sports experts and economy experts. They share their wisdom on talk shows, books and blog posts. I think a lot of that is great. We can really benefit from … Continue reading Sifting for wisdom in the age of “experts”
Meet Adversity, your teacher and trainer
A bunch of people were put in a room and each given the same short story to read. It was about a young man who went through several difficult hardships. Then they were given a pencil and were invited to cross out anything in the story they thought would result in the young man having … Continue reading Meet Adversity, your teacher and trainer
Temptation in the age of the quick fix
Because you’re human, you get tempted. Like many other people you get tempted to do or pursue something that seems good at the time, but will immediately or eventually lead to harm in your own life or in the lives of the people around you. Some temptations are obvious. Like the temptation to steal something, … Continue reading Temptation in the age of the quick fix
Getting your head in the game
When I was small my Little League team would say a cheer right before we ran onto the field. It was a way to rally ourselves and focus on what we were about to do. Maybe it seems strange, but it can be good practice to have a ritual before you read your Bible too. … Continue reading Getting your head in the game
Annoying people
People can be really… annoying! Who knows, maybe you think I’M annoying. (Maybe people think YOU’RE annoying!) Either way, you and I live our days with other people—many of whom rub us the wrong way. You know who I’m talking about! It could be someone at work, school or church. It could be someone on … Continue reading Annoying people
It’s not supposed to insult your intelligence
The Bible is big... and confusing. So how do you interpret it? As Thomas Merton says, it's supposed to challenge your intelligence (not insult it). Here's how.
Missing out on what God wants to do
We often think that wisdom is about us knowing what’s best. But none of us sees the whole picture. Here's what God can do when we remember that fact. (With a little help from Reggie Joiner)
Read to understand (not just to finish)
You know you should read the Bible. But there's like a zillion pages. This one tip may make you wiser as you try to more fully understand God's will in your life.
