Series: Run to Win!

Run To Win! The Lifelong Pursuits of a Godly Man

Every four years another Olympics begins and the whole world becomes obsessed with activities they haven’t thought about since the last games. Suddenly we find ourselves waking up early and staying up late to watch athletes pole vault and throw javelins and dive into pools. We can’t help but cheer as we watch little-known sports like field hockey and handball and water polo. What is it that compels us to watch these strange events and to cheer for people we …

Embrace Your Purpose

At this very moment, you are running a race. You are running a race even if you are sitting on the bus reading these words on your phone, even if you are reading this to take a break from the drudgery of your work. Everywhere and at all times you are running the race of all races, the Christian life. The question is not if you are running but how. Are you running well or running poorly? Are you out …

Become a Patron

Renew Your Mind

There are many places in the Bible where God presents a stark contrast between two options, then urges the reader to make his choice. He gave his law to ancient Israel, then said, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted wide and narrow gates and pleaded, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads …

Know Your Doctrine

“Doctrine divides,” the young man explained. “Of course it’s important, but God cares far more for our deeds than our creeds. Doctrine divides, but love unites.” Could he be right? Is doctrine a force for division meant to bow before the primacy of love? “I find doctrine boring,” the husband confessed. “I don’t have any interest in hearing about theology. Just tell me what God wants me to do, and I’ll do it. I’m a doer, not a learner.” Could …

Practice Your Devotion

In all the books I’ve read, I’ve come to learn that the effort of reading an entire book is often rewarded with a single profound sentence. In a book made up of thousands of words, just one sentence has the power to transform us. I remember one such sentence in a book I read early on as a Christian on the subject of godliness. I do not remember much of its content or even its title. But I do remember …

Prioritize Your Church

A few years ago, Aileen and I walked into a gym for the very first time. We were unfit, we were determined to do something about it, and we had an inkling that a gym was the place to go. We spoke to the club’s manager, arranged an appointment, and groaned our way through an hour-long assessment. He then assigned a trainer, who assured us he would help us melt away a few pounds and put on a bit of …

Maintain Your Vigilance

We all love to watch the occasional fail video, don’t we? What started years ago on primetime television has migrated to YouTube and become one of our beloved pastimes. Some of my favorites are “finish line fails,” compilations of athletes celebrating just a bit too soon. In one of these finish line fails, an Olympic runner is nearing the end of his race, still going at a tremendous pace. He has swept around the final turn and is now just …

Redeem Your Time

Is there anything more tragic than time? Is there anything that brings about deeper grief than seeing time pass us by, than acknowledging how much has already elapsed and how little remains? We who were made to live forever are now given a mere “threescore years and ten” (Psalm 90:10) before we are gone. “If a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all,” says wise old Solomon, “but let him remember that the days of darkness will …

Act Your Age!

“I just don’t know if I’m ready to settle down yet.” He had recently celebrated his 30th birthday but was still content to live in his parents’ home, to eat their food, to enjoy their rent-free accommodations. He told me how he enjoyed his girlfriend and sometimes joined her in her parents’ home for weeks or even months at a time, but he still wasn’t quite ready to go to the next level by purchasing that engagement ring. Kids were …

Pursue Your Vocation

Why do we work? For five or six days of every week, most of us spend at least half of our waking hours doing a job. We take time away from our families and away from worldly pleasures to pursue an occupation. It’s simply what humans do. But why? Some say we work so that we don’t have to work. Bestselling books teach us how to “escape the 9 to 5,” to get rich fast and set ourselves up for …