… hadn’t been around much grief. And as a follower of Jesus, I’d spent plenty of time contending for healing, chasing joy, and building my faith, but hardly any time learning what the Bible says about sorrow, death, and loss. …

As I wrote the word “thank,” I had an intrusive, unexpected thought. I’m on the lookout for these intruders. These whispers are shouts from God. …

… Lives will be changed, and our trajectories will be precisely directed to transform us to have the mind of Christ…

Jesus told me that I’m full of joy. I don’t always feel full of joy. Jesus was not a liar, so my feelings must be lying to me…

At 7 AM on Friday, June 29th, 2007, I was standing fourth in line at a small ATT store in Hackettstown, New Jersey. That morning, the Apple iPhone Model One was released for sale . . .

The possibility of earning an “F” in marriage and parenting was starting to look like a real possibility. This is not like a college course that you can drop with no penalties. Depression and anger were at my doorstep.

The full acceptance that we find as believers in Christ can be a challenge to grasp. When I read Romans eight, I’m drawn to the amount of times Paul says the words, “In Christ”. …

This week, as Lydia and I continue our efforts to obtain our Master's degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary, our professor posed this question for our class discussion. What is the danger of having a belief system of the Trinity that flattens the Trinity to an emphasis on ‘Father, Son, and Holy Bible’? What is the practical damage that happens when a member of the Trinity is replaced by something else?

There is a saying, “Nothing changes until you get tired of the way things are.” We can’t change others, and often can’t change our situation, but we can change ourselves …

It's Autumn. The hydrangeas are finished with their decorative work for the season. I’m outside on this cool, crisp day, next to the house, cutting them down and bagging them up.

Two ladies come around the corner of the house and approach. I’m kneeling in the dirt, cutting away at the sea of woody stems. “Are you David Pontzer?” one of them asks.

When it comes to success by the world's standards, most of us are somewhere between homeless and millionaire. Most of us will never be homeless or millionaires. I suspect we all imagine a future for ourselves where we move at least a little in the millionaire direction.

… Then she made a very astounding statement. She said, “I am so thankful I made that choice because little did I know that less than 48 hours later I would have to identify my husband’s dead body, and that was one of the last memories we had.

Our son, who has come to meet us, issues a warning not to use the car horn. He said, “Horn blowing is considered very rude behavior, and no one ever uses the car horn.”

Our heavenly Abba is crafting the perfect set of life experiences necessary for us to learn essential truths about him and to impact the lives of others.

Why does seeking God’s kingdom require endless ongoing teaching and study? Why does the Bible uniquely feel like an alive, ever-changing, ever more to discover, textbook?

As we got closer, I looked them in the eye. They were out spreading holiday cheer among the customers. Each of them had a small bag of candy and was passing it out to customers. This was turning mostly grumpy into mostly happy. I was thinking they were the Anti-Grinch when the Holy Spirit suddenly reminded me of something important. I approached.

… The human life, death, and life again, of Jesus on earth was the most impactful event in all of human history. Even those who call Jesus a liar will admit this fact. There has never been anyone before or since who has rocked our world like Jesus. Time to remember. Time to celebrate! …

During the Summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson spent 17 days writing the Declaration of Independence.  It includes the famous sentence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (US 1776).”

 What does the Creator have to say about this?

I worked my way off the wheelie bed onto the narrow operating room table. There were masked and gowned people all around helping. Next to me on a cart was the heart-lung machine, complicated and a little frightening. The guy closest to me was explaining that he would be monitoring my brain waves and managing the anesthetic to keep me just under.

I looked up at the ceiling tiles just beyond the three giant light fixtures …

In 1863, our God-fearing President, Abraham Lincoln, declared the last Thursday in November as National Thanksgiving Day. His motivation was to heal a nation divided by the Civil War.

He also wanted the day off to watch football.