
The Lord Is My Pacesetter
The year 2013 had hardly begun before I felt as if I needed a vacation. A house renovation, a book launch, a trip to Ethiopia, and two speaking trips to Australia had left the year with little free space.



IDK
Almost everyone loves to hear stories of God “showing up.” We feel trapped by circumstances, we pray in desperation, and a providential answer arrives just in time.



Beauty-Driven Worship
Few us of spend enough time paying attention to beauty, especially in our times of worship. But when we do, it speaks to us like few things do.



The Trick Of Misdirection
I recently watched a thought-provoking TED (Technology, Education, and Design) talk where a street magician spoke on the power of misdirection. Our brains have difficulty focusing on two things at once, and magicians exploit this by drawing our attention to one thing so that we won’t notice that they’re doing something else.


Technology And The Trivial
If our technology had existed in Jesus’ day, our Bibles might read: “Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ but they were checking their e-mail and missed the question.”



Elusive And Illusive
Solomon laid out the yardsticks of success in ancient Jewish society: wealth, honor, possessions, a very large family, and a very long life (Ecclesiastes 6:2-3). Today, a large family and long life would be deemed by some as more of a burden and trouble than success.



Not Bored
The picture in my news magazine showed a Moscow circus bear that was shuffling across a tightrope in preparation for its next performance. More interesting was the woman sitting in the background, slumped over, with her head resting on one hand, as if she had seen this act before.



No App For That
When I was a child, I knew some people who did nothing but watch television. They sat in their recliners and absorbed continuous loops of game shows, sitcoms, and sporting events.



Disney’s Gospel
As my family was leaving the park after a fun day at Disney, the loudspeakers were playing a happy song with the chorus, “In everything you do, celebrate you!” The song reminded me of the earlier parade that encouraged us to celebrate our dreams, “whatever they are.”