Humility

A Right Heart


1) A right heart is a NEW heart (Ezek. 36:26). It is not the heart with which a person is born—but another heart put in them by the Holy Spirit. It is a heart which has new tastes, new joys, new sorrows, new desires, new hopes, new fears, new likes, new dislikes. It has new views about the soul, sin, God, Christ, salvation, the Bible, prayer, heaven, hell, the world, and holiness. It is like a farm with a new and good tenant. “Old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

A Right Heart Read More »

Jesus Says “Sorry” Is A Verb

“I’m sorry.” Why are those two little words so difficult to say?

I made a mistake. I need to apologize. It’s not that hard.

So why is it so hard?

Maybe there’s a better question. Why is it so hard to say I’m sorry and really mean it? Or even better, what does it mean to really mean it?

That’s the real question: what does “being sorry” really mean?

Apologize … and MEAN it

I know this will shock you, but I occasionally broke the rules as a kid. I recall my mom telling me to apologize to someone. I’d comply grudgingly, and she’d say, “Now go back and say it like you MEAN it.”

Jesus Says “Sorry” Is A Verb Read More »

What if…..

… Jesus really meant what He said?

“I did not come to condemn, but to save.”

Condemn: to declare to be reprehensible, wrong, or evil…to judge unfit for use or consumption.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus … [Romans 8:1]

What if that were true?

I know—it’s a complex theological statement. But what if it were as simple as “follow Jesus” = “no condemnation”?

What if every follower of Jesus stopped judging others as “reprehensible, wrong, or evil”? Even “those people”—you know, the ones who are, well, “unfit”?

What if

We refused to make—or forward, or approve—snarky political comments?

What if….. Read More »

Do the Faults of Others Bother You?


There is a duty of fault-finding. The Master Himself teaches it. In the Sermon on the Mount, He makes it very plain. We must note carefully, however, where the duty begins. We are to look first after our own faults. “Why do you look at the mote that is in your brother’s eye–but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?”

We must consider the beam that is in our own eye!

Do the Faults of Others Bother You? Read More »

Putting Aside Arrogance and Embracing Humility

Luke 12:16-21 NKJV
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”>

Putting Aside Arrogance and Embracing Humility Read More »

Our Lives Should be More Like Jazz

I don’t know much about jazz except that I usually like it, especially live. I’m thinking that our lives might be a little richer if they were a little more like jazz.

Jazz music is sort of unscripted. Each song has a basic melody and sometimes words, but the performance is spontaneous. Real jazz isn’t rehearsed like a lot of other music—it’s more of a live interaction between the musicians. They practice and develop their individual skills, but the music happens when they play off one another.

Our Lives Should be More Like Jazz Read More »

Soft Addiction and Accountability

SELF-ACCOUNTABILITY
The key to overcoming bad habits or a Soft Addiction is to take the time to learn how to become self-accountable. If a person is not held accountable for something, there is little motivation to change. We, who struggle with behavior addictions can relate to this problem. It is a main element of denial. It is getting into the habit of saying, Who, Me!

Soft Addiction and Accountability Read More »

What was Surrender in Early AA?

What Was a Surrender in Early A.A.?

In the original A.A. “Christian fellowship” program founded in Akron in June 1935, pioneer newcomers had a very clear idea of A.A.’s requirement that they surrender.

The Surrender at Akron City Hospital

First, at the close of the usually-required, initial hospitalization in Akron City Hospital, there was a ceremony that involved only A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob and the newcomer with whom he had been working. It soon involved two events:
(1) The question Dr. Bob asked the newcomer:

    “Young feller, do you believe in God? Not a God, but God!”1 [emphasis in original]

(2) Then the requirement that the newcomer get out of bed, get down on his knees, and pray — with Dr. Bob leading the prayer.2

What was Surrender in Early AA? Read More »

A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 10-12

Step Ten through Step Twelve

We have many times documented the frequent statements by A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson that his friend Rev. Sam Shoemaker was the major source of the Big Book ideas and Twelve Steps.1

And you can find almost exact parallels between the language Bill Wilson used in the Big Book and the language Shoemaker wrote in his many Christian books, articles, and pamphlets. Sometimes Bill’s parallel language is found in the instructions of the Big Book for “taking” the Steps. Sometimes his language is found in the Steps themselves.

A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 10-12 Read More »

A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 1-6

A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels from Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.

Steps One through Step Six

We have many times documented the frequent statements by A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson that his friend, Rev. Sam Shoemaker, was the major source of the Big Book ideas and Twelve Steps.1 In 1955, Newsweek named him one of the ten greatest preachers in the United States.2 Shoemaker was known as a great communicator, and was described by his associate, Rev. W. Irving Harris, as a Bible Christian.3

There are many persuasive instances where one can find almost exact parallels between the language Bill Wilson used in the Big Book and the language Shoemaker used in his many Christian books, articles, and pamphlets.

A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 1-6 Read More »