What does it take to be a victim? I’m not talking about someone who by chance falls into the line of someone's gunfire. I’m talking about a mind set, a way of thinking. There are those who live their whole life "victimized." It could be because of some tragedy and they spend their life asking, “Why did this happen to me?” Or, it could be a social injustice that has wounded you. These things all too easily become a crutch for us and before we realize it we are looking for some

It seems a lot of focus has been placed on taxing the rich. Somehow that is suppose to comfort us. We are finally getting the bad guys. The promise is that the evil rich are the only ones who are going to take a hit. It is a lesson to our society that the poor are the good and the rich are the bad. I see this as the height of manipulation, control and hypocrisy. It is smoke and mirrors when a politician says this to you. Let’s call it like it is. The raising of taxes for gove

There is nothing slow about the grind, nor the determined passage of time. Its unrelenting march pushes you forward without discrimination. Each segment of time comes to you and leaves you with the knowing that whatever your present situation, it will soon pass, and the only part of it that remains is the fragrance that we call memories. The passage of time is inevitable. It has no response to our reaction or cries to break its stride. It grieves us with the knowledge that ou

Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath built her house. She hath hewn out her seven pillars. In this scripture we see the principle of core values. Core values are more than good ideas from which we try to direct our life. They are the very foundation on which we build our life. Everyone lives by core values on some level, from a gang member on the street to the king’s throne. They may not understand or articulate what those values are, but when it comes to making decisions for your life,

On the fourth of July I was watching the fireworks show. I reasoned that each rocket varies in glory and is magnificent in its own right. While some make up the whole, others stand out for their individual brilliance, yet all eventually fade away and are replaced by another. Even so, all men whether small or great fade in glory and soon another will take their place. As bright as they shine, their glory darkens and they are forgotten. So keep in mind that the brilliance of yo

I know that it is difficult to see God for who He really is in the midst of an agonistic world where His reality seems obscured. You might ask why He would create the world in such a manner where we perceive our world as the only real reality and the Spirit world as the unreal. God did this by design. He obscured His authorship to allow us to make independent choices. Without the ability to make an independent choice, we would be nothing more than a mechanical doll or a puppe

The fourth source of stress comes from neglecting our time with God. The early morning is the time I like best. But many people can’t do that because of their work schedule. You have to find the time that works best for you. For some, it is during their commute time going to work. Can you imagine what it would be like if everyone did that? With the increasing problem with road rage, what would happen if everyone in traffic would roll up their window, put on a worship CD and g

The third source of stress comes from Loss of Privacy. We live in a world where we are not comfortable being alone. We don’t know what it means anymore to be quiet. We are constantly being talked to by some electronic device, radio, television, ipod, x-box, cell phone. Entertainment is the great escape from ourselves and our responsibilities. Entertainment means “don’t think. We will think for you”. As a result, instead of living a life, we sit in front of screen and watch ot

The second source of stress comes from Increased distractions in our lives. Most of us need to take a serious look at our schedules and do some major housecleaning. Actually it wouldn’t hurt us to go home today and make it an assignment to see how much stuff we can cancel or eliminate. It seems that with all of our time saving devices, that we are more stressed and have less time than ever before. We are running from daylight to dark, working two jobs, trying to balance our h

This is part one of a series I am doing to help us deal with the stresses in our lives. One main source of stress comes from our Expectations of Others. We are worn out by trying to live up to expectations put on us and constantly monitor the ones we put on other people. It has stolen our attention, our health and our relationships, especially our marriages. Our marriages have stopped being a place of love, fun and giving, and have become a place of stressful performance. U