One day, Charlie Brown was depressed. Lucy diagnosed the problem: “Charlie Brown, the problem with you is that you’re you.” Charlie responded, “Oh, and what can I do about that?” Lucy said, “I’m not here to give any prescriptions. I’m just here to point out the problems.” Do you have people like that in your…
“Abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). The key word in that command is “desires.” Peter didn’t warn us to not engage in sinful activities. The desire is bad enough. Why? Because that is what torments our souls. And wherever we indulge our mind today, our body will follow…
Spencer Johnson wrote a popular book called The Present: The Secret to Enjoying Your Work and Life Now. His premise was that to have a life that is effective, you have to learn how to be “fully present.” Most of us have trouble with that. We are too concerned about yesterday, even though we can’t…
This is the day we all make promises for the coming year. But I say, forget the next year. Let’s talk about the next 24 hours. We can do a lot in a day. In one day in 1993, Charles Servizio did 46,001 pushups. In one day, Ben Feldman sold $20 million of insurance. In…
If you’re really old, you will recall what happened on this date in 1879. That was the day the light came on. On December 31, 1879, in the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison lit up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran…
The Bible never says, “Be loud and know that I am God.” Nope, it says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Still is the antidote to stress. Stress is a primary trigger of addiction. Few things are a worse enemy than stress. According to the Center for Disease Control, stress can…
Moments after President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., his body was carried across the street to the Petersen House. The Petersen were out of town at the time, but theirs was the closest place Lincoln’s people could find with a bed. It was in that bed that the president drew…
It’s one of my 100 Recovery Rules. Addiction cripples, but secrets kill. Dr. Alex Lickerman, the author of The Undefeated Mind, writes, “Deciding to not reveal a hurtful secret is usually easy while deciding to reveal it is hard. But if it’s a secret you’re withholding from someone with whom you’re intimate, it represents a…
Over the last 50 years, a few baseball players have stood out as the very best pure hitters of this era. I’m talking about Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett, and Pete Rose. But don’t forget about George Brett, who came the closest to hitting .400 of any hitter since Ted Williams. Brett was known for his…
What if God said something 16 times? I bet you would take notice. Well, he did. Sixteen times, Jesus said something like this: “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” Here’s just one example: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to…