Some see grace as your constant “get out of jail free” pass.  We all do, of course, need grace day-by-day for all our failures and shortcomings.

Millions of marriages are smoldering. The passion is gone. The fire is almost out. The excitement and astonishment left years ago. Marriages go through stages as Jesus said: “hot, cold, and lukewarm.” I’ve been married for over 40 years and I’m sure I have been through all three of them! If your marriage needs some “hot sauce,” I can help you with that.

I have always loved Psalm 23. It is the favorite passage of many Christians for comfort in times of distress and trouble. The other day, however, I looked at it differently: “The Lord is my pastor" (same word as shepherd).

Everybody sets goals, especially in a new year. Some are attainable and some are hopeless. By now, many have abandoned their goals for the year and some never set any! As a pastor for over 40 years, I learned how to set goals that were motivated by faith.

Stress is killing people. Guilt is not far behind. In between those two extremes is a simple word: “No.” Getting that word out is the hard thing. We hint, we beat around the bush, we psychologize. We stay mad because we couldn’t say that word. We avoid certain people and events because we can’t say that word. Business leaders, parents, pastors, and politicians all have a difficult time saying that word. Your world will change when someone shows you how to say “No.” I’ve battled it for years. After all, they’re my friend. What if I ruin a relationship? Didn’t Christ teach me to serve? What if their reputation tells me that what they borrow will never be returned? How can I add another thing to an already overloaded schedule? Stress or guilt?

Everywhere I go, people ask me, “How can I marry someone, like Melanie, who will stay together with me for a lifetime?” Over 40 years together with her, I think I can help you in that.

Having been in ministry for over 50 years, I have seen that perspiration is often as important as inspiration! People often think of their successful friends as “lucky” or “more talented.” However, they rarely make the connection between their own work-ethic and their success. A lazy, passive, self-pitying work ethic leaves you negative, blaming, unsuccessful…and usually broke! Nehemiah and his men had a “mind to work” (Neh. 4: 6). Those hard-working men built a huge wall in 52 days! They barely slept, they stayed in their clothing, they built while holding a sword, and they amazed the devil’s crowd.

Against his parents strict orders, a little boy was sliding on his wood floors at home without his socks. A splinter lodged in his foot. He tried to ignore it, butafter several days of hobbling his mother demanded he slip his sock off. There, she saw the truth. She gingerly pulled the splinter out and he began his healing process. Do you have a splinter in your foot?

Everyone has read 1 Corinthians 13. Most Christians know it as the love chapter. I’ve read it a hundred times but struggle to DO IT. The words seem to blend into a beautiful picture, like a work of art. The problem, however, is if I just LOOK at it but can’t implement it. I looked at 1 Cor. 13 a different way the other day.

Everyone wants to know how to multiply their business, their finances, and their influence. Jesus showed us the secret by having the crowd of people sit down in groups of 50 before He multiplied the bread. Order precedes multiplication.

I have observed that multiplication is wishful thinking for most leaders. They forget that God is “not the author of confusion” and that everything should be done “decently and in order.”

Everyone struggles with their tongue. Sometimes it feels like a coiled up viper, ready to strike. No matter how hard you grit your teeth to stop it, it will come flying out at a moment’s notice! James described your tongue as a runaway horse: “And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

We all reach a point where we need to take a break. Jesus told His disciples to come apart and rest for a while. Someone said once, "if you don’t come apart you will surely come apart!" Perhaps you are at a point that you have become compulsive.

Ezekiel and John both saw the four awesome living creatures that stand around the throne of God. Both of them (Eze. 1: 10, Rev. 4: 7) describe their four faces: an eagle, an ox, a lion, and a man. Could these four powerful creatures give us an insight into the nature of God’s kingdom and leadership model?

How do you view impossibilities? Do they intimidate you and stop you dead in your tracks before you ever even attempt to defeat them? I have found that there are usually 2 different ways to approach an obstacle in your life.

Most leaders are struggling to “fit it all in”. From home, to work, to kids, to spouse, to church, to parents we are all trying to not leave anyone out. We feel stretched and stressed. Successful relationships happen on purpose. Here is how to prioritize the relationships in your life and make sure you are hitting the bullseye.

Negative pessimism is a hard monkey to get off your back. It colors everything dull and bland. It stifles creativity, ruins relationships, and makes everything hopeless. You lose sight of all that you “have and are” for what you “want and are not.”

Maintaining stability as a leader is one of the greatest crisis in America today. Business leaders, political leaders, spiritual leaders are “uprooted” from their positions by moral, financial, and ethical failure. How do you maintain long-term stability as a leader?

I’ll never forget being in Lebanon and taking a trip to see the “cedars of Lebanon.” There, perched high on a mountain, these gentle giants were 30 ft. around! I wondered how they received their nourishment and flourished in such a harsh mountaintop climate.

Everyone wants to be a great leader.  They try every book, conference, and seminar.  They pump themselves full of motivation.  They read and listen to the latest leadership strategy.

All good.  The missing ingredient of all of the above?  “Self-awareness.”  

If you are single, you have got to figure this out.

If you are married, you have to remember it again.

What attracts a man to a woman after all?

I remember the day I was married. What I remember most, however, was what attracted me to Melanie in the beginning.

Of course, she was beautiful! Over these years, however, I have realized that it is six other qualities that KEEP me attracted.

Everyone is in a panic. We operate more on adrenaline than anointing! We have pressures, commitments, deadlines, obligations, possessions and relationships that require continual maintenance. It reminds me of my first time snow skiing (a big deal for a Louisiana resident). I made it fine on the ski lift, but the moment my skis turned “south” I realized the first principle of snow skiing: “It is downhill and slightly out of control!”