At first glance, it cracked me up. Cruising the streets of Brookline, Massachusetts, we encountered a store named Restorers Without Borders. For a price, they take in furniture of all kinds and rebuild or refinish it. Cracked wood, missing table legs, scratched tabletops—they handle it all. And when they return that heirloom to you, it looks like new (or old, if you prefer). Not to be missed—their slogan. It's splashed on not one but two windows: "You'll adore what we restore." At first, I smiled. Then it struck me—isn’t that a perfect description of Jesus? The woman with the issue…
Don’t Think He Will Hurt You
Adrenaline rushed. My heart rate surged. I'd been walking alone on a country road, enjoying the early morning. And then I wasn't alone. A dog resembling a Doberman Pinscher turned the corner and headed right for me. With a cornfield on one side and a yard on the other, there was no place to go—and no stick to grab for self-defense. I was entirely exposed. Seconds later, the dog's owner rounded that same corner. "Nick!" She called out to her dog. But Nick blew her off and kept coming. "Nick, get over here!" This time, he paused, looked back at…
Wisdom in the Waves
At Junkanoo Beach in the Bahamas, the turquoise ocean hue is so intense, you swear it’s been Photoshopped, and so clear you can see down at least 30 feet. What fun to zip my iPhone into a waterproof pouch and slip beneath the waves to capture images of underwater life. After years of watching Discovery Channel shows, it was intoxicating to experience it personally. Needing to come up for air, I wondered about shooting some different camera angles. What if I put that iPhone on the sand and clicked the shutter just as the waves collided? I scrunched my body…
Come Boldly
Are you bold when you pray? I'd not given the question much thought until recently. We were out at the camper—Saturday morning. It's breakfast time, which means six-year-old Ava is on one of my knees, and four-year-old Emma is on the other (our standard practice). I say a prayer of thanks for the meal that goes something like this: Dear Lord, Thank you for our food. You are so good to us. Thank you for letting us be together out here at the camper. It’s like a giant present. Before I can say Amen, Ava blurts out loudly, “And please…
Who–me? Repent?
Like many workplaces, Moody has a wellness program that encourages employees to pursue a healthier lifestyle. You watch educational videos, do fitness exercises, and take a healthy eating lifestyle class—that sort of thing. For every course you take, you get points. When you earn enough points, you earn the reward: $20/month off the cost of your insurance. But here’s the thing. This is really about repentance! They want me to repent from my five-layered Taco Bell burrito. They want me to turn away from lounging on the couch while binge-watching TV. They want me to repent from my daily can…
First Reactions
I saw a strange sight. While waiting for the train, a shabby-looking man fiddled with the parking meter behind me. His bunched-up pants were way too big for his skinny waist. I was confused by how his fingers mashed the parking meter panel with such intensity. As if he'd somehow been cheated out of change (or was hoping to find some?). Then I looked down and noticed the guy had no shoes—only filthy socks, well-worn. They had been white in another world, but long ago, they'd morphed into a muddy gray. As the train approached, I wondered what this guy…
Our True Selves
Nassau, Bahamas—the fifth busiest cruise port in the world. At Port Nassau, they can dock six massive cruise ships simultaneously. And nearly 100 ships do so monthly, bringing some 20,000 cruise passengers who tour Nassau daily. My wife and I are just back from an anniversary trip to the Bahamas (no cruise—just a few days in the sun). There, we observed Port Nassau passengers immediately ushered to a pristinely manicured neighborhood. The "Straw Market" is a collection of upscale shops and eateries with more diamond stores than any street I've ever walked. And this is the only version of Nassau…
Who Do You Love More?
Tree sap. Dust. Grime. They transformed our once-beige storage unit into a grimy gray. But I was sure the power washer would bring a quick restoration. Begrudgingly, the filth gave way, but at a snail's pace. The cleaning process was so slow I decided to entertain my wife by "drawing" the outline of a big heart on the lid of the storage unit using the jet stream of water. Because four-year-olds rarely miss anything, that drawing did not escape little Emma, who inquired of my wife, "Who put that heart on there?" “Grandpa did.” “Is it because he loves me?”…
Sin is the Enemy!
As Christians, we’re angry. We’re angry that educators and legislators are attempting to deny parents any say in the sexual choices of their own children. We’re angry that criminals are put back on the street without posting bail. We’re angry that concerned parents who speak up at school meetings are branded as domestic terrorists. We’re angry about a lot of things. But we’re wise to test our anger against the standards of Scripture. It’s okay to be angry about sin. It’s okay to hate sin—we must! But it’s not okay to hate sinners. Have you noticed that many Christians seem…
Proud–Like a Fly
Imagine a pile of dead files shaped like an Angel Food cake. Disgusting, right? That’s what our fly trap looks like. It’s a green mesh cylinder with an inverted cone featuring an opening the size of a nickel. Attracted by smelly bait, the flies crawl into that hole, one by one. All day. Every day. Once inside the fabric cylinder, they flitter about. Eventually, they lose interest and want to leave the party. But they don’t. Instead, they flutter against the trap walls, figuring there must be an exit "out there." Or they zoom up to the top of the…