Thanksgiving Day 1970 was not a good one in the Lynch home. Dad and I were not in a good place. By 17, I had developed into a fast talking, rebellious punk, with a sharp, clever and sarcastic vocabulary and attitude. I was usually angry, flippant or indifferent at home. People outside my family thought [...]
I spoke last week at a wonderful Arts Conference at Woodmen Valley Church in Colorado. I quoted a snippet by the 14th century philosopher Machiavelli from his work “The Prince”. Bruce McNicol handed me the quote long ago. It has rocked my world since then. He says,
“…there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, [...]
Today I am wondering about my own theological take on pain and suffering. I have friends that are really going through it right now—mind numbingly awful stuff. And sometimes I don’t know what to say. I want to offer encouragement, and I want to tell them that God is there with them but I also [...]
I have been reading the Bible cover to cover for the last couple of months. I am a little more than half way through. I have been a Christian for most of my life but I have never read the Bible this way. I have read it in chunks—Pentateuch, Major Prophets, Gospels, Wisdom Books, etc. [...]
I was with some friends, Chris and Cindy Beall, in Oklahoma last week for about 5 hours. I got up in the morning, got on the plane, landed, rented the car, drove to their place, hung out, got back in the car, got back on the plane, landed, drove home. Whew! It was a really [...]
I know a really neat high school student in our church. Recently she was spending the weekend with a friend and visited that friend’s church. Early the following week I received a text that she’d like to speak to me about the message.
She said, “The preacher taught that when you get far from God you [...]
Yesterday I was listening to a local Christian radio call-in show hosted by a local pastor. The theme of the show was “Temptation Avoidance Strategies.” In a nutshell, this pastor stated that in order to not sin, we need strategies in place that allow us to avoid temptation; and, without a strategy, we [...]
My wife Kelsie and I were comparing notes last night after 6 days away with high school students in San Diego. As we continued to roll out our memories, ask each other questions, and reminisce on our favorite times something was apparent; with 10-15 camps in our rear view, we had never experienced a [...]
This morning on my run in the desert mountains I was asking myself, “What’s a diamond ring mean to the typical married woman?” Treasure beyond price. So, why did Lisa give hers away to start a prosthetics ministry for the maimed children of blood diamond country, Sierra Leone? And, this. “What does the typical young [...]
Last weekend, our TrueFaced/Catalyst team offered a marriage retreat for business and professional couples, from their 20’s to their 60’s. One of the last persons I talked to said to me, “For the first time in several years, I have hope for our family.”
This couple has been through many Bible studies and even [...]