Life has a way of challenging our ability to not only navigate but also manage life events. All of us desire a life that’s free of trial or at least with limited conflict or trouble. What we discover in life are troubles all around us, and it’s our job to learn to navigate through those challenges the best we can. We soon discover that often the challenges that come our way are bigger than our abilities. We either learn to discover the knowledge and wisdom that we need or we suffer for it. These troubles should encourage us to pursue knowledge and wisdom outside of ourselves before crisis or challenge come our way, but all too often we are not taught at a young age to do so. The basic principles of development are often very hard to correct through learning when someone is older. I know this by experience!

Reading through the Psalms, I find great encouragement in discovering how King David related to God. We need to read and investigate how others have followed God, and even more importantly, how God defined their relationship.

Have you ever wondered why our leaders created holidays to celebrate in America?

As a child, a holiday usually meant being out of school, or getting special presents like during Christmas and Easter. Once we became adults, we are supposed to become mature in our thinking and reflecting. Holidays were meant to honor things we value, and the sacrifice the others have made. Unfortunately,  as kids, many of the adults in our lives failed to sit down with us and explain each holiday and why people set that day aside to reflect on.

Have you ever been surprised by what comes out of your mouth or what comes out of the mouth of others? It seems we all make the mistake of talking before we think. The question is why? Why do people embrace themselves, and for that fact, why do we embrace ourselves by speaking things that are not factual or down right lies?

In our fast paced culture, there are so many voices literally screaming for our attention and trying to get us to believe and follow their advice. The problem is, how do we know which one is right? And are they right all the time? Take binoculars for instance. These devises are great and important when trying to see details from far away, but they are terrible if you’re trying to take a splinter out of your hand!

I recently read a great article on “Medical Myths“.  It profiled health practitioners advocating certain remedies for particular illnesses.  However, as opposed to providing answers or pointing to to potential cures, they concentrated on “masking” the symptoms.

You may be wondering why a bible teacher would be reading a medical article journal article, but it’s really simple.  In life there are so many parallels.  Both natural and spiritual.  Often you can find something in one area that correlates to another, and that discovery opens up our understanding about life and the answers we seek.

Have you ever noticed how we seem as a culture to have no brakes on our mouths?

Not too many years ago, we debated issues and ideas. Now we slam anyone’s character when they don’t agree with everything we think is important. Instead of addressing the idea or topic, we think the only way to win an argument is to make the person we are talking about appear small or insignificant.

One of the few things children are not taught is how to be humble enough to ask for help regularly. If you were encouraged to ask, you were a fortunate child. As adults, we assume kids will figure out they need others in their lives to learn and navigate this life. Too often, kids experience criticism in their quest to learn and end up being afraid of showing any kind of weakness with regards to their intelligence or skills.

All to often, when kids become adults, they carry this baggage of insecurity in their souls, which cheats them of a rich life with others. With all the electronic devices we use, we have become so unaccustomed to asking for help from another human being, and instead, refer to the internet to solve our ignorance or lack of inexperience. Now the internet is a great tool, like all the YouTube tutorials, but t’s so sad that we are becoming more insecure rather than well-balanced as human beings because of using it. Texting, emails and the like are convenient, but have a cost of isolation and further awkwardness in interacting with others.

Billy Graham’s body is being laid to rest here in Charlotte, North Carolina today.

Few ministers have impressed me like Billy Graham. Though he was a man who was not perfect, he reflected a key value which I wish many other ministers did: Humility!