The Reward of Stillness

(Photo credit: Yann Novak) Freeze. Don’t move. Think of nothing The most difficult tasks in life are usually the ones we think of less often. It’s not the big assignment facing us, it’s not the car we need to get to the shop, it’s not the seemingly insurmountable item placed before us by the boss...

Storm Preparations: How to Survive the Coming “Change”

I remember when Hurricane Rita was swirling in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Long before the storm made clear its landfall, a TV weatherman friend of mine told me he had no doubt it would hit the Beaumont/Port Arthur area. The weather patterns, winds, and other meteorological hints made it clear to...

On Being Moral…

Aristole, Plato, and Confucious: They are just a small handful of the world's great philosophers who struggled with one of the greatest questions of life: What is morality and how does one become moral? Want to start a heated discussion? Simply talk about what is moral and immoral. Our nation is divided over what is...

Forgiveness. Learning How to Let Go

Corrie Ten Boom tells of the day she met one of her former death camp guards in a church immediately after World War II. After giving a lesson on forgiveness, she was approached by the former guard who asked Corrie to forgive him for the terrible things he had done to her and her family....

Why Christians are Leaving Christianity

A close relative of mine is Buddhist. That in and of itself may not sound strange. But what is unnerving is he used to be a dyed-in-the-wool Baptist. Talk about one extreme to the other! There is a growing trend in American Christianity. People are leaving churches and embracing eastern religions, especially Buddhism. While I...

The Fraternal Brotherhood

They are the words the father of any college age freshman son dreads to hear: "Dad, I joined a fraternity." Yes, I have to admit I was a bit stunned. I immediately had visions of all night parties on par with Animal House. After all, fraternities are not known for their wisdom, character or stability....

The Very Few Words of Christ

Just a cursory look at the New Testament reveals the few words Christ spoke. At least the ones we have recorded in the four writings of his life and ministry. If one combines only the words of Jesus' into one book, it would be a very thin booklet. While Christ spoke and did many more...

Christ and Buddha

I have many wonderful and caring Buddhist friends as well as others from different beliefs. Many say there are no real differences between Buddha and Christ; that they are the same. While there are some striking similarities, there are some glaring and crucial differences. —Buddha taught a moral life through our own selves.. Jesus taught...

The Great Sin

But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the...

War of the Worlds

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us ? But...