Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from May 27, 2012

Put on the Pads!

ESPN.go.Dallas  I had breakfast the other day with a friend, and we shared our stuff and prayed for each other. Part of my encouragement to him was to read and get to know Ephesians 6:10-17 to help him with the spiritual warfare he faced in stepping out to trust God in every area of his life . As we left, we got on the topic of him playing ice hockey when he was growing up in Michigan, and I just popped off and suggested he translate the Ephesians passage with hockey gear since we knew nothing about armor in Paul's day . So, he did, and here is how Ephesians 6:10-17 reads to a hockey player : 10- A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power to score . 11- Put on all of God’s shoulder, thigh, knee and shin pads , so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the opposing team .12- For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this da

Character in a Culture that Values Results

In our new book, Norman Blackaby and I state the importance of the topic of character in our society today: We do not have to look far to see that character is no longer a prerequisite for success in our culture. Politicians, religious and community leaders, business leaders, and individuals have demonstrated that we live in a culture that values results above character . We have segregated our private lives from our public ones, and our faith is a matter of personal conviction and no longer a player in the public square...Character and integrity are optional to the bottom line...We depend on spin, not truth, to clear our soiled character, and we count on sound bites and news clips to be authentic portraits of those we elect to office. Companies hide unfair and unethical practices behind carefully produced advertising campaigns and, sadly, churches sometimes cover up the unseemly messes of their leaders and their spending habits in order to portray a benevolent image to the commu