Month: January 2017

Lazarus, Come Forth Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die?

The story of Lazarus is one that everyone is pretty familiar with. I would suspect that even non-Christians have at least a basic understanding of the story. I have known that story for what seems like my entire life, but it was only recently I noticed a verse and allowed the implications of that verse to really shine a new light on the whole story for me. So, we all know that Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus. Jesus is informed that Lazarus is sick and He responds, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). After hearing Jesus say that, I’m sure the disciples assumed that Jesus meant that Lazarus’ illness wasn’t all that serious and that he would soon get over it. Jesus stayed for two more days before telling His disciples it was time to set out for Judea where Lazarus had died.

Lazarus, Come Forth Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die? full post

(3393 words, 1 image, estimated 13:34 mins reading time)

What Makes a Hero?

Who was your childhood hero? Did you want to be like Mike? Perhaps you thought Muhammad Ali was the greatest? Maybe you were wrapped up in Hulkamania?  As kids, we all have people that we consider to be our heroes. When I was a kid my idea of a hero was fleeting at best. Ozzie Smith, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Mark McGwire, Wolverine, Batman, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Lee and the list goes on and on. All of these people/characters were heroes for me at one time or another. Some lasted for years, some for a few months, but I placed each one on a pedestal at some point in my life. As I grew older, my idea of what a hero is changed and then, my grandfather became my hero.

What Makes a Hero? full post

(2479 words, 1 image, estimated 9:55 mins reading time)

Motives and Incentives

Just yesterday, I made a decision to try and lose some weight. If you know my wife and I, or you read my post last week, you know that my wife has been on a health journey for quite some time now. In the last year, she has improved her physical, mental and spiritual health by leaps and bounds. You would probably think that this is the reason that I decided to get healthy. The truth is while my wife’s journey has inspired me in many aspects of my life, it wasn’t her weight loss that caused me to make a decision to lose some myself. Actually, it was a competition offering money and cigars to the person that lost the most weight. I love cigars and I could always use some more money. So the incentives of the top prize urged me to commit to doing something that I have known I should do for quite some time now.

Motives and Incentives full post

(898 words, 1 image, estimated 3:36 mins reading time)