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Teaching our Kids about Pain, Suffering, and Hope
“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” It's a popular mantra we recite to children in our churches. And it's true. One of the greatest lessons we can teach our kids is that God is good and gracious—it's the heart of the gospel, the anchor of our faith, and what sets our beliefs apart from other world religions. But there's more to what we believe. And sometimes we miss it until we walk through pain and suffering and are forced to confront the fact that Christianity isn't easy. Walking with God, in the most complete sense, certainly involves struggles and even loss. I remember being faced…
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You Are Emotionally Contagious: How you can infect others for good
We are sitting at Turner Field in Atlanta, watching the Braves take on the Washington Nationals. A batter steps up to the plate, a lanky left-hander, tightly circling his bat. Two nights earlier he hit two home runs out of four times at the plate. Atlanta’s best pitcher eyes him over the rim of his glove, then winds up and throws. The batter pops it up impossibly, third-deck high. We let out a whoop. And everyone around us turns and stares. We are cheering for Adam LaRoche, son of one of my best friends and first baseman for Washington, surrounded by Brave fans who don’t take too kindly to…