When God Turns Pain into Gain

[Tweet “Without loss there is no gain. Without suffering there is no joy.”] I was humbled by the opportunity to meet Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint) as well as Mincaye—one of the tribe members who killed Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and the other missionaries to Ecuador. As the three of us met for lunch, […]

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Old Story New

I am constantly amazed at how cyclical what’s old becomes new again. Especially how sharing God’s story of redemption during the holidays has been reinvented throughout the ages. In 1847, a French parish priest asked local wine merchant Placide Cappeau to pen a poem for Christmas mass. Famous for his artistry with words, Placide was […]

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Mental illness to surpass healthcare costs

I love thumbing through Tweets, skimming research, statistics and findings. But some, like this one, shock and disturb me. Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) By 2030, mental illness will cost the world more than cancer, diabetes and respiratory diseases combined: ow.ly/GbPPR The current and projected economic burden that disease bears globally predicts that “the largest source of those […]

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The Power of Words

How much of your day is influenced by words? Maybe your day, like mine, progresses something like this: Devotions/reading plan on YouVersion Skim headlines on a device Read/write a Tweet Email, email, email! Study/read for my doctorate Watch the news or a TV show I’m surrounded by words all day, every day. Some are important, […]

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Reflections on poverty of spirit, power and prestige

The past two weeks have been surreal. In the span of a fortnight, I buried a beloved uncle, heard the news about the resignation of Bob Coy, and was installed as the Chair of the Oral Roberts University (ORU) Board of Trustees. I was sequestered in ORU board meetings last week. When I reconnected to email and social media on my flight home, I was startled by the avalanche of texts, emails, posts, likes, RT’s and DM’s that flooded in. […]

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