Life

My wife and I have always been obsessive planners. And after having made a million failed plans, I’ve discovered a few tricks that can give our goals a bit more traction! So before you make another frail and disappointing resolution, consider these 4 principles that can place your dreams in the fast lane: (1). Don’t…

I married Carolyn 20 years ago today. It almost doesn’t seem real. When I think about how blessed we are compared to most people, I almost feel a little sad. Our culture is robbed by the toxic idea that marriage can fill our God-shaped voids. To many, marriage has been reduced to a ‘right’…a tool…

Most Christians believe that reading the Bible is “good for them.” Yet so many people still struggle getting “into it.” And if you struggle, don’t sweat it! I just wrote a blog last week on how to “get addicted” to Bible reading. But did you know that you can increase your child or grandchild’s intelligence,…

If anyone knows my wife Carolyn, she ALWAYS has a fresh miracle story of how God provides for our family. In my books, I’ve shared miracle stories about how she trusted God for lawn-mowers and snowblowers – but, we’ve got dozens more: from Disney vacations, to our home & furniture, to our kid’s braces… she…

Over the years, I’ve had a good number of people ask me: How do you stay consistent in the Bible? Even more, how do you actually “get into it.” Keep in mind, I didn’t start out loving it. And even today, my desire for God’s Word tends to increase in direct proportion to the margin…

As Christians, we all know that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit; but some of us are building a mega-church. And the problem with bad eating is that it often takes awhile before we experience the real ramifications. Over the years, I’ve really struggled keeping my weight in check. I’m doing great…

Throughout the middle ages people believed in a theological concept called purgatory…a place between heaven and hell where certain people could pay for their sins. Of course, most scholars don’t believe the concept even exists in the Bible (which I agree with). Some credit Pope Gregory the 1st (late 6th century) as the originator. But…

For most people, witches only exist in the Wizard of Oz; but, it’s actually a serious bona fide religious affiliation. Here in Minneapolis / St. Paul, there are allegedly over 20,000 witches (or Neo-pagans as many of them prefer), And in the Twin Cities alone, there are around 234 active covens. Strangely, we even have…

Did you know, research shows that only “10% of happiness is based on circumstantial things like, income, marital status, jobs, good looks, or geographical location!” Wealth, jobs, cars and great looks do not affect happiness as much as we’d like to imagine. In fact, wealth actually decreases a person’s happiness above a certain point. Or,…

Substance has had thousands of college students come through our community at some point. In fact, many of our best leaders were going to college when they first found Substance. But as many of these same students entered the “real world” I’ve heard them voice a lot of regrets. Over time, I started hearing several…