God believes in relationships. He loves us so much and wanted a relationship with us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus the Messiah, to prove it. His own people, the Jews, rejected Him (John 1:11). How do we build relationships with people, especially people who have rejected us or “cut us off” from their lives? Those rejecters could be adult children, siblings, parents, or friends. How do we reconnect with them? 

Before I answer those questions let me say upfront that forgiving someone does NOT necessarily mean we are reconciled and in a relationship with them. We can forgive people with God and forgive the offender but reconciling with them is a different and often more difficult step. We may choose to forgive someone ...

Elsie and I love to drive by our neighbors’ homes at Christmastime and see the bright, colorful lights they’ve put up. It’s a beautiful sight. One neighbor, in particular, goes all out. He has Christmas lights, figures, inflatables, and signs wishing all a Merry Christmas. I happened to drive past his house last year about the time he was setting things up in his yard and noticed his garage. Yikes! It was packed from floor to ceiling with stuff. There is no way he could have gotten a car in it.

I was reminded of him and his garage as I started cleaning out clothes, shoes, ties, and jackets from my closets. I don’t want to become like him so I’m donating all my old stuff to Goodwill. I don’t want to ...

When I was a child, Christmas was the happiest time of the year for me. Christmas was not hectic and complicated. It was just wonderful. It was all about Christmas carols, Christmas programs, baking cookies and treats, my aunt coming over on Christmas Eve with Santa’s travel report, and lots of family on Christmas Day. My sisters and I liked presents and Santa when we were little, but those things did not usurp Christmas. Christmas was all about the birth of Baby Jesus. I learned all the verses of all the Christmas carols at Robert Lewis Stevenson public elementary school. The all-school Christmas program was a very big event every year. There was a required attendance policy at the evening program, but it was unnecessary for me and ...

There are many things which distinguish those who are millennials (born between 1982 and 2000) from other generations including: a concern for social media whether talking on their cell phones, checking their Facebook pages or posting a comment on their Twitter accounts, this generation is skilled at multi-tasking, and very computer savvy. In addition, nearly all have at least one tattoo (or “tat”). Tattoos have become a defining difference between the generations with those under 40 having at least one and those over 40 seldom having one. Many millennials have tattoos over large sections of their bodies. Their tattoos may be as simple and elegant as a small butterfly or as dark and demonic as an image of the devil. Some have ...

“It’s no big deal, Irv! Why are you making a mountain out of a molehill?” We’ve all heard those expressions. It’s the attempt to make something smaller than it really is. The issue may be huge even life-altering but to the one minimizing it is "no big deal.”

Psychologists call this defense mechanism minimization. Drawing from the term “to minimize,” the Cambridge English Online Dictionary defines minimization as “the act of making something seem less important or smaller than it really is.” When I was the director of the National Coalition For Purity I heard many men struggling with sexual sin in their lives use minimization as their crutch on which to lean. By ...