• Engage

    What Should I Do with Rejection?

    In an unfamiliar city, my family and I were searching for a quick meal before heading off to the airport. We spotted a restaurant that looked like it would work so we entered and asked for a table. We were promptly seated….and then our waitress arrived. In a rough and hoarse voice, she barked, “Do you want me to harass you and give you a hard time?” I was shocked and horrified. In an uncharacteristic manner of my introverted self, I quickly replied, “No, we don’t want that!!!” She said OK, and proceeded to take our orders. As other waiters and waitresses continued to badger their customers (and customers badgered…

  • Engage

    Warm and Fuzzy Feelings do not Equal Faith

    There I was walking that long path to the university yet again. I knew every crack in the side walk. I knew where the weeds had finally broken free and where the deep puddles would collect after a hard rain. I could gauge how late I was to class based on the faces I met scrambling along the way. Guys and gals who drank way too much the night before drug their inanimate bodies to their 7:45 classes. The skaters, which was still a thing then, weaved in and out of the crowd, I had to fake left and fake right to escape them. Every day I would walk that…

  • Impact

    The Ninth Opportunity

    The Ninth Commandment states that we are not to lie (Exodus 20:16). Lying is one of the six things that God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19. Proverbs 12:22). To lie is to NOT speak the truth, typically with the intent to deceive. This includes slander, which is the spreading of false reports to destroy the reputation of others; gossip, which is the spreading of reports of things not validated to be true (i.e., rumors); perjury which is the swearing of an oath to things that are not true, exaggeration which is stretching the truth typically due to PRIDE and being hypocritical which is living a life that is a lie (1 John…