forgiveness Archives - NoSuperHeroes

Stranger in My Own Land

May 31, 2017

I was in America for the first time in forever on Memorial Day. This is a day where we remember the sacrifice of many who fought for the freedom of America. Drive down any street and you will see flags waving on houses with patriotism abounding. I found myself in the heartland of America this year. As I watched a military color guard present the Stars and Stripes for the national anthem of a baseball game, it struck me.

I live here now. This is not a visit, it is a move.

Perhaps my love for baseball made this epiphany so poignant. I simultaneously felt my love for America swell in my heart and my nervousness at returning after 12 years overseas cause my stomach to churn. Read more... (603 words, 1 image, estimated 2:25 mins reading time)

In Grace, Missions & Cross-Cultural Christianity, church, Cross-cultural, endurance, Faith, forgiveness, freedom, growth, missionary, missions

Best Book I’ve Read in 2016

November 22, 2016

The best book I have read in 2016 is Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud.

It deals with the difficult process of ending things in our lives. This could be letting an employee or co-worker go, ending a bad habit, or making a needed change in our lives.

Take a look at some of the wisdom Cloud shares in this book.

“Your attempts to fix should also include a realistic assessment of the potential for recovery and whether or not you are indulging in false hope. Leaders by nature are often optimistic and hopeful, but if you do not have some criteria by which you distinguish legitimate optimism from false hope, you will not get the benefits of pruning.”

Working in a volunteer organization, I found the next one very challenging. Read more... (731 words, 2 images, estimated 2:55 mins reading time)

In Leadership, Reading Bible, board of directors, Christianity, church, employee, Faith, firing, forgiveness, growth, henry cloud, leadership, missions, necessary endings, team, volunteer

Hopeless Hope

September 7, 2016

Christians and ministries often have a hard time losing hope. Hope filled Christianity is a wonderful thing, but it is more and more normal for people to hold out hope without any evidence to support it.

There are times when we must actually lose hope and it may be in the best interest of the person or the project.

Henry Cloud in his fantastic book,Necessary Endings, deals with this at length. Take a look at some of these thoughts.

“Hope is based not only on desire, but also on real, objective reasons to believe that more time will help. That is way different from mere desire. Here is the principle: In the absence of real, objective reasons to think that more time is going to help, it is probably time for some type of necessary ending.” Read more... (514 words, 1 image, estimated 2:03 mins reading time)

The End of Me

December 16, 2015

“Finish the sentence, “Jesus became real when….”

Often our walk with the Lord is relegated to an afterthought when life is good. It takes a tragedy, a bad medical prognosis, or news of an impending crisis to force us to our knees.

It is precisely during those times when Jesus becomes a more realized presence in our hearts and lives.

I’ve recently seen some friends who nearly lost a newborn express this sentiment saying, “I can say this was a time of depth with my God that I did not know existed.”

This sentiment perfectly illustrates the premise of this book.

“Jesus became real when I came to the end of me.”

I was asked to review Kyle Idleman’s new book, The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins. Read more... (526 words, 2 images, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

In Reading Bible, Christian, christian growth, Christianity, end of me, endurance, eugene peterson, forgiveness, freedom, grace, humility, kyle idleman, sermon on the mount, weakness

It’s Not What You Think – Jefferson Bethke

November 3, 2015

I had read and enjoyed Jefferson Bethke’s book Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough.

When I was given a chance to review his new book, It’s Not What You Think: Why Christianity Is About So Much More Than Going to Heaven When You Die, I jumped at the chance.

I was not disappointed.

Bethke takes on many aspects of Christianity in which we have some misunderstandings. Included in this are:

Christianity is more than going to heaven
The Temple is not a building
The Sabbath is not an outdated set of rules
The kingdom is not in the sky
and much, much more.

Bethke hit on so many things I’ve been pondering in my own life. This book became a conversation for me with a fellow traveler. Read more... (475 words, 2 images, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)