From Pops' Workshop

Pride takes many forms. There's vanity, the love of self.  There's a sense of entitlement, impatience, arrogance, hubris, desiring relevance or appreciation, incessant dissatisfaction, complaining, demanding.  Pride is a stern master. But God has given us an escape from pride. Listen to learn how you can be freed from pride and free to become your best self.

Recently I was reminded of how the Lord can take the straw of our very imperfect efforts and spin it into kingdom gold. A child we had sponsored years ago reached out and contacted me through social media. Her story reminds me of how God takes our most ineffective actions, whether we are seeking to do kingdom work or just to know him better and hear his voice, and spins our straw into gold.

If we want to know God, good theology is important; personal experience can be sweet; but they cannot be our starting place.  We cannot start with those and work our way up to the cross, the stumbling block and folly.  We must start with the cross, the God's love for us perfectly reflected in Jesus on the cross.

The theme song from "Cheers" famously proclaimed, "You wanna where everybody knows your name."  That rings true for a lot of people, it certainly does for me.  We really do want to be somewhere where we are known -- we want to be accepted. Do people know you?  I mean really know you, not just …

Continue reading "The Importance of Being Known"

If we ever needed to know how to overcome Hate, this is the time. Hate, as vile and reprehensible as it is, cannot be out-argued, out-protested, or shouted down.  Only Love can overcome Hate. Only Love can overcome Hate -- but how?  Love cannot prevail by hating Hate.  To overcome Hate, Love must be, like …

Continue reading "Praying for Love"