Privacy or Secrecy? How truthful and transparent should I be with my spouse? After all, we are supposed to be best friends right?  But am I not still entitled to a measure of privacy in my life? What's the difference between privacy and secrecy? Privacy is about having healthy boundaries…

Wearing the "C" Okay, this is not a sports blog, but I need to use a sports analogy to set up my message. As we all know, a "captain" is a commander or leader. You will notice a "C" on the jersey of a team captain. Naturally, I have used…

Self Gratification Seeking gratification and fulfillment in life is not wrong. What's important is our motivation and having the ultimate goal of glorifying God. Bernard of Clairvaux, the twelfth century spiritual writer, outlines a four step progression which guides us to a healthy love of self. The starting point for…

Building Equity Building equity in your home is all about taking care of your property, making upgrades when needed, building investment value over time. Ideally, at every stage of the mortgage, it's not healthy for the loan balance to be higher than the fair market value of the home. As…

Lead Me To Calvary Jennie Hussey, began songwriting at the age of eight and wrote over one hundred and fifty hymns. The one for which she is known, Lead Me To Calvary, appeared in print in 1921 and is a beloved hymn to this day. I fondly recall singing it…

It’s been over four hundred years since Shakespeare wrote the words, “To thine own self be true.” A more updated version reads, “Be true to yourself.” We all get the gist, right? Being a people pleaser is a barren and tiresome road to travel. I need to be the authentic…

Consistency in Prayer Consistency in prayer will only be realized when we are intentional in conversation with God. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your…

Unequally Yoked The principle of “agreement” and its importance was established long ago. “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.” Deut. 22:10 There are some species of animals that are not comfortable with one another. They also don’t pull the same when yoked. Donkeys have a…

Marriages of Steel It was April and the year was 1912. The world’s then largest luxury liner was launched on its maiden voyage. One of its boasts was that it was unsinkable. End of story: more than 1,500 people died; the last Titanic survivor passed away in 2009. The ship…