A recent email from a marketing guru hit my inbox just about the time I was reading Luke 3:7-14. I was struck by the contradiction – the marketing guy was basically encouraging me to be a nice person, to pay for influencers to say nice things about my books, and
What is the church? It’s a question we need to be asking more urgently than ever. And I fear that good people are too narrowly defining church. We need a more generous definition. I know there are millions of books on the topic, and countless papers, and nearly 2000 years
A few days ago I was talking with a friend who runs a large family foundation. They support a lot of causes but I was curious what motivated them to give to one organization over another. With all the good groups out there, and all the need in the world,
Great news! I’ve signed a contract to write Junkyard Wisdom Rebuilt for release in 2022! I’ve been working on this book for some time now, and it’s exciting to see it come together. Books capture a moment in time, and my first book Junkyard Wisdom came out just as dramatic change was beginning
It’s April so you probably aren’t expecting a post about Advent. But in recent months I’ve begun brainstorming about a daily Advent devotional for later this year. And it began with a story about an angry bull. Last year I found out that July 12 is National Cow Appreciation Day.
To understand generosity is to understand thankfulness. I’ll explain with a story about dirt. What we now call Silicon Valley was once vast fruit orchards. I remember growing up in San Jose and walking through cherry orchards on my way to school, and I’m not even old enough for social
This story begins with a generous act of giving time, treasure, and talent. A friend, I will call him Larry, and several people from his church went to Mexico to build houses in a blighted community. These were simple structures with communal water and electricity, so it wasn’t hard to
Pigeon Monday! For years I’ve wanted the Monday after Palm Sunday to be called Pigeon Monday in honor of Jesus flipping tables in the Temple. Yes, I know it’s silly, and I realize Hallmark isn’t ready to jump on the bandwagon. But the story has always made me smile because