Modern culture suffers from a crisis of self-esteem. Lack of true self-esteem is the root of much of the distress people feel and their failure to excel. Society’s influencers recognize this problem and try to solve it by eliminating competition and giving meaningless...
I have learned that many people feel that they do not measure up. Indeed, at times, most people feel that they are not good enough. Unfortunately, a deep fear of not being valued subconsciously controls the lives of many persons. The fear of not measuring up is very...
What is the purpose of life? Today, few people give this question much thought. They either assume there is no purpose or are too busy living life to care. It wasn’t always so. Ancient Greece became the foundation of the Western world and of our modern society to a...
Like my fellow missionaries in Ecuador, I missed traditional home-cooked American meals. We were all excited when we heard that one of the missionaries had a recipe for pancakes, and a local family had gathered all the ingredients, including butter and syrup. However,...
That summer, we lived in a tent in a campground near Eugene, Oregon, while my father was in California taking care of the arrangements for our move. Later, he and my older brother packed our possessions into our trailer and began their drive up to Oregon. They...
I have a friend who was furious with God after the death of her husband. She said, “I was so angry at God that we were not on speaking terms for nearly three years.” Reliving the experience of such unbearable suffering and loss, she plunged deeper and deeper into an...
“There is no way I can pay off my father’s debt,” I told my wife. Years earlier, when I was doing well financially, I had personally guaranteed a large loan so my father could refinance his five-acre dividable view lot overlooking Lake San Marcus and the surrounding...
“We need twenty-five thousand dollars for payroll,” Dino (name has been changed) told Peter. “If you don’t send it, none of the employees will be paid before Christmas,” he continued. “OK, I will wire the funds tomorrow,” Mr. Ma replied. “That will be too late,” Dino...
Even though no one in this small mountain village was ready to join our church, we were able to provide some comfort to a grieving family during the short time we were there. A young man in his twenties drowned when he fell into the river while he was drunk. There was...
I did not want to travel as much as the securities industry required, so I reached out the owner of a large real estate investment firm whom I respected and let him know that I was looking to change my employment. He offered me the position of vice president. Even...
