Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is one of the greatest stories of redemption ever written. The story traces the life of Jean Valjean, a criminal released from prison after serving a number of years for stealing bread to feed his starving sister. A kind bishop, Myriel, takes Valjean in but the criminal steals his silverware and runs off. When the...

Ever have that nightmare where you show up for class and are handed a test that you knew nothing about, so you are completely unprepared? Yeah, me too. Sorry if you have it tonight now. That nightmare is supposed to reveal anxiety in our lives—that we are afraid of forgetting a deadline or something like that. For me, this...

I recently saw something on a social media site that troubled me quite a bit. I know, what is not troubling on social media? Someone posted seeking wisdom on how to handle a situation at her church. From what she described, an unbeliever, who is not a member of the church, was elected to her church’s board. Apparently, the...

My youngest son Caleb has never read The 5 Love Languages. I know this, in part, because he is seven. That book is not quite up his alley. But I also know he isn’t well-versed on Chapman’s thinking because Caleb’s love language to me is definitely not in that book. Caleb’s preferred method to show me that he loves me...

Have you ever had one of those days when it felt like everything that could go wrong would go wrong? I was at a conference in Canada recently and I was a little nervous about the last day. For a number of reasons, I was left to fend for myself in our exhibitor booth, which alone is not a...

Date: 3/3/19 Session 1: Joshua and Caleb You have likely heard the idiom “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It’s intended to be sage advice to remind ourselves not to judge others by external appearances or behaviors, but rather to look deeper within them. It sounds great, and there is some truth to it, but does this idea...