Why Men Cheat: Taming the Tiger Within
[Parental Warning: the subject matter of this post may not be appropriate for younger readers. Parents use your discretion]. Every time a prominent figure cheats on his wife, or for that matter when someone I know does the same, I ask myself "Why?" Why risk losing one's family and the respect of friends, colleagues and admirers. In the case of Tiger Woods, why risk losing potential millions of dollars in endorsements? Why? A friend of mine, at the prime of his life and ministry, admitted to an ongoing affair and a double-life of over twenty-five years. He lost his leadership at ...
The Sound of God’s Applause: Second edition
For a couple years now I've wanted to reprint my book, The Sound of God's Applause: Living a Life that Glorifies the Father. The book's out of print, but periodically someone asks me how they can purchase a copy. My wife Page, who frequently speaks to ladies groups, used to sell them along with other resources until her inventory ran out. Well, to make a long story short, Outcome Publishers has agreed to print and republish the book. They've completed the second printing, and it should be available very soon. I'm so grateful to the Westwood Church family for giving me ...
Real life isn’t like Benjamin Button–or is it?
[This post is not an endorsement of the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Some of the contents of the film are questionable and certainly inappropriate for children.] I watched my mom's life fade away in a hospital room about two weeks before I saw the The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Since the story of Benjamin Button is told by a mother on her death bed to her daughter, the movie got my attention. The daughter in the story, pictured in the foreground in the above picture, lived a far distance from her mom and dealt with feelings of ...
Responsible For People vs. Responsible To People
Professional ministers and Church leaders can be very controlling by nature. We place on ourselves the responsibility to develop people as growing disciples of Jesus Christ, so we create environments we can control. If I consider myself responsible for how people develop spiritually, I want to control environments in the church to help people become more like Jesus. But inevitably, even when my intentions... [Read more of this post]
The Greatest Cause
[The letter below was written by Carole Spaeth, a missionary to the Miniafia people of Papua, New Guinea. I've changed the content slightly, so as not to let the cat out of the bag about what the people were celebrating. I'll reveal that at the end of the story.] Preparations for the dedication began about a year ago, with the gathering of materials and building of extra shelters for guests, preparing... [Read more of this post]
A Letter to My 13-year-old Self
[Guest post by my son, Caleb, who is now 21 and a Senior at the University of Alabama] Dear 7th Grade Caleb, I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, but I have a few things you may wanna hear. First I’m real proud of you for cleaning up your mouth. You really had me worried there for those few months. You were blending in with your friends way too easily. I had a feeling you... [Read more of this post]
