Five Factors God Used to Simplify My Complicated Marriage

Five Factors God Used to Simplify My Complicated Marriage

The only way to avoid the complications of relationships is to have none. We human beings need each other, so God created us with the capacity to love, to have friends, to get married, and to live in community with each other. But, as Facebook would attest, many of us...
What's Wrong with That Weird, Shy, Introverted Kid?

What's Wrong with That Weird, Shy, Introverted Kid?

In the first grade, I was treated as disobedient because I was extremely shy, afraid to ask for help, and struggled with my work because of it. I’m 38 years old and still grit my teeth a little bit when I remember the teacher (who had a reputation for being one...
Yes, You Are Married to the Right Person

Yes, You Are Married to the Right Person

Marriage is an adventure filled with up’s and down’s, unexpected changes, new opportunities, and challenges of all shapes and sizes. Most couples get into marriage with the expectation that their spouse will never change. We think the guy or girl who made...
13 Words from a Father to His Daughter on Her 13th Birthday

13 Words from a Father to His Daughter on Her 13th Birthday

Ella, you’re amazing! And you’re supposed to stay my little girl forever. You’ve grown up so much already and I’m tearing up in Starbuck’s as I write this just thinking about it. I hope it’s okay with you that this is public. I just...
5 Practices of a Peaceful Home

5 Practices of a Peaceful Home

Guitars sound nice because of stress. Great guitarists know how to turn the tuning pegs just enough that all six strings are in harmony with one another and on key. But too much stress, too much tension, can stretch or break a string. In the same way, every family...
18 Lessons from 18 Years of Marriage

18 Lessons from 18 Years of Marriage

On June 14, 1997, I married Angie Kirk, the most amazing woman on earth! The last eighteen years have been an adventure. We left home to go to college together and got engaged a little over a month into our freshmen year. That next spring I started pastoring a small...
10 Big Lessons for Men from Mr. Incredible

10 Big Lessons for Men from Mr. Incredible

Mr. Incredible (aka Robert Parr) is one heck of a dude. If you’ve never seen the movie, Mr. Incredible starts out as a typical superhero, saving the world repeatedly from destruction. Just before he marries Elastigirl (Helen), he saves a man from an attempted...
5 Reasons Why Men Just Can't Win

5 Reasons Why Men Just Can't Win

I try. I fail. I try and fail again. Why can’t I just win? Why can’t I get this right? I ask myself those questions a lot, but even as I ask them, I know the answers. They’re on the tip of my tongue and God’s spirit often reminds me of them...
Husbands, Treat Your Wife Like the Treasure She Is

Husbands, Treat Your Wife Like the Treasure She Is

My wife is a treasure! She’s precious. In addition to all of the many personal qualities about Angie that make her awesome – such as her tender, sweet heart, charming smile and her beauty – there’s this, and it’s from the Bible… The...
You Need Counseling, And You Need to Give Counsel

You Need Counseling, And You Need to Give Counsel

Some of the spiritually healthiest people I know are in counseling. There seems to be some stigma around it, but getting help with our mental and emotional issues is really a matter of choosing to grow with the help of others. And the New Testament reveals a pretty...