“But in contemporary society, we have trouble talking about the obvious: the transition from boy to man is a risky endeavor, and there can be a lot of collateral damage.”  Erika Christakis, Time Magazine web article “Most men are dead by 27 even though we don’t bury them until after 72.”  Don Hudson Its instantly [...]

“Survivors of abuse often suffer from unarticulated compulsions to repeat the event in different ways in the midst of their every day life activities.  This compulsion can lead survivors to put themselves in situations similar to the initiating event, as in the case of sexual abuse survivor who repeatedly gets involved in abusive relationships.”  Serene [...]

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”  Maya Angelou “You don’t get to make up most of your story. But you get to make peace with it.” Ann Voskamp My son Brandt has officially discovered that the world is his playground.  He is one happy toddler boy.  The problem [...]

“Postmodern irony and cynicism has become an end in itself, a measure of hip sophistication and literary savvy. Few artists dare to try to talk about ways of working toward redeeming what’s wrong, because they’ll look sentimental and naive to all the weary ironists.” David Foster Wallace “We can spend our time being disruptive, or [...]

“Evil loves trauma and drama.” Dan Allender “Our battle is not against flesh and blood.” Paul You know the story. You have read it, heard it over and over, probably countless times by now. Its the one we are all trying to grasp still, aware that we cannot escape its horror. On Friday, December 14, [...]

“Love is the giving and receiving of pleasure.”  Dan Allender “God not only loves you, but likes you.” Brennan Manning Our marriage counselor once gave my wife and me an assignment I thought was really dumb.  She asked us to pause each day over the next week to remember the things about each other that [...]

“We’re in the presence of a good story when the flaw that shatters shalom is also the doorway to redemption.” Dan Allender “Come on, let’s go back to God. He hurt us, but he’ll heal us. He hit us hard, but he’ll put us right again.” Hosea 6:1 The television’s high pitched hum got closer [...]

“And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are to be pitied more than anyone in the world.” 1 Corinthians 15:19 “We’re born to shimmer. We’re born to shine. We’re born to radiate.”  Shawn Mullins I heard a story about my uncle Dale a few weeks ago.  It was on the [...]